Which Spanish airports would cope best if an airline failed?

What happens to an airport’s connectivity if an airline leaves, cancels routes or suffers a disruption? Our AI agents measured it across the 32 airports in Aena’s network with five indicators: airline diversity, direct routes, the balance between low-cost and traditional carriers, market concentration and connections to major international hubs.

The top five

Barcelona-El Prat tops the ranking with 90.9 points, ahead of Madrid-Barajas (85.5), mainly because its airlines are more evenly split between low-cost and traditional carriers. Both have direct connections to 41 international hubs, the highest figure in the study. Palma de Mallorca (73.3) and Málaga-Costa del Sol (71.2) stand out for a broad route network and low concentration among a few airlines, and Gran Canaria (63.3) for spreading its activity across several operators. Fuerteventura, sixth, stands out for a near-even split between low-cost and traditional carriers.

The most exposed airports

Santiago de Compostela, Granada and San Sebastián show high concentration. Tenerife Norte ranks lower than its traffic would suggest, due to limited route diversity and no links to major hubs. Melilla and Ceuta close the list: each depends entirely on a single operator, which makes them highly vulnerable to a change of strategy or a disruption at that airline.

What the index does not measure

It is a snapshot of the flight schedule for the second half of June. It does not include aircraft capacity, the frequency of routes to hubs or seasonal changes in connectivity, which could shift some airports’ positions.

Passenger volume does not guarantee resilience. What protects an airport is the diversity of its airlines, routes and connections.