Aruba Airport recovers 38% of 2019 departing passenger amount during 1st quarter of 2021

ORANJESTAD – With the amounts of departing passengers now known for March 2021, AUA Airport can report as follows on its performance for March and the 1st quarter of 2021.

In March of 2021, the airport handled a total of 47,664 departing passengers which is 41% compared to February 2021. As a result, during the first quarter of 2021 AUA Airport handled a total of 128,086 departing passengers (Revenue Generating Passengers) which is a recovery of 38% of the departures handled in the first quarter of 2019 and 45% of the departures handled in 2020. In the months of January through March 2021 103,758 passengers (pax) travelled to the US, 901 pax to Canada, 10,378 pax to Europe, 4,457 pax to the Netherlands Antilles, and 8,299 pax to Latin America. The total figures for the 1st quarter of 2021 are 29% less than what was forecasted for this period. Compared to 1st quarter of 2019 AUA Airport recovered 38% of its departing traffic during the 1st quarter of 2021.

An average outbound passenger load factor (PLF) (number of seats of the total seats on board an aircraft that are occupied when departing from AUA Airport) for the US Market of 49% (*) was reported during the 1st quarter of 2021, while the average PLF for all markets was at 51% during that same period. When comparing this to 2019 where an average PLF for all markets of 85% was reached, AUA airport’s departure traffic has yet to grow further to reach pre-pandemic PLFs.  (*Excluding de-densification of aircraft)

During the 1st quarter of this year, AUA Airport averaged 21 flights per day, down from 33 daily flights during the same period in 2019. In that same period in 2020 AUA Airport handled an average of 26 daily flights.

Based on the latest available insights AUA Airport now expects to recover 49% of its traffic for the year 2021 when comparing this to the year 2019 by reaching approximately 620K departing pax. This would mean an increase of 44% versus the year 2020 when AUA Airport handled a total of 430K departing passengers.

About AUA Airport 

AUA Airport is one of the busiest airports in the Caribbean region, with 19 different airlines operating into Aruba contributing in processing over 2.5 million passengers per year and providing air service to 20 destinations worldwide. AUA Airport is operationally solid where over 95% of all visitors are leisure guests: 83% from the United States & Canada, 6% from Latin America, 8% from Europe, and 3% from Dutch Caribbean, year to date, March 2021. AUA Airport attributes this to the island’s stable economic and political climate, hospitable and multilingual population, and safe environment. AUA Airport undergoes continuous upgrades to maintain its position as one of the region’s most innovative airports.