Domestic routes are essential for connectivity within Spain and also abroad, as well as contributing significantly to the creation of wealth and employment in our country. According to a study carried out by PwC for Iberia, for every million passengers who use these flights, €102 million in GDP and 1,852 full-time jobs are generated.
In addition to their contribution to growth in Spain, the role of short-haul flights is irreplaceable at this time in Spain. As Beatriz Guillén, Director of Global Sales at Iberia, says, “Until there is a true intermodal system that allows an efficient connection of the airports with high speed railways, it is impossible to replace short-haul flights with rail travel. Without domestic flights, it is not possible to meet the demand of the millions of travellers who need to connect with their medium- and long-haul flights.”
Short-haul routes with a high-speed alternative
The PwC consultancy has studied the five Iberia routes that have a rail alternative with approximately two and a half hours of travel time. These are: Madrid-Barcelona, Madrid-Malaga, Madrid-Valencia, Madrid-Alicante and Madrid-Seville.
The development of high-speed rail travel on these five routes has implied a loss of air quota and a reduction in flight frequencies. Travellers have replaced the plane for the high-speed train for those trips in which it offers a satisfactory alternative, mainly point-to-point. Between 2007 and 2019, the number of passengers who travelled by plane on the five routes studied decreased by more than half, from 8.97 to 4.06 million.
Iberia mainly maintained the frequencies that allow the transfer of passengers who are going on long-haul trips. Between 2003 and 2022, the number of frequencies was reduced by an average of 64% on the five routes studied.
However, short-haul flights continue to be essential to transfer passengers to the Madrid-Barajas hub from where Iberia and other airlines connect Spain with international destinations, especially in Latin America and the United States.
The positive impact on the economy of short-haul routes
The consulting firm PwC calculates that for every million passengers travelling on a domestic flight in Spain, €102 million are generated for our economy: €40.4 million from sectors related to aviation and €61.6 million from tourism and related activities.
In addition, those million passengers generate 1,852 full-time jobs: 626 in sectors linked to aviation and 1,226 in tourism and related sectors.
The PwC report also shows how, according to specialised studies, a 10% increase in the supply of airplane seats increases foreign direct investment by 4.7%, exports by 2.5%, tourism by 4% and the number of headquarters of large companies in the area of influence of the airport also by 4%.
The five routes studied contributed €329 million to Spanish GDP in 2022: €130 million from the aviation sector and €199 million from complementary sectors such as hotels, restaurants, and leisure.
In addition, those five routes generated 5,980 full-time jobs in 2022: 2,021 in the aviation sector and 3,959 in related sectors.
In addition to significant economic damage, a hypothetical elimination of these routes would reduce national and international connectivity in peripheral areas of Spain and would increase the risk of passenger migration to other international airports, which would weaken the Madrid-Barajas hub in favour of others, such as those in Paris and Frankfurt. This would also increase environmental risks and carbon leakage, since it would result in more kilometres per flight and more CO2 emissions.
The best alternative to short-haul flights is efficient intermodal travel
Before considering the possibility of replacing short-haul flights with high-speed rail travel, an efficient intermodal system would have to be designed and deployed to ensure connectivity for medium- and long-haul passengers.
In 2022, around 4 million passengers took short-haul routes arriving at the Madrid-Barajas airport from Barcelona, Alicante, Malaga, Seville, and Valencia. More than half of them used these routes to connect with other flights, mostly medium- and long-haul international flights. To handle this volume of travellers, it would be necessary to bring a minimum of between eight and ten high-speed lines every hour to the airport, coinciding with the flight departure and arrival windows. It is a scenario from which Spain is still a long way off, but which it could get close to achieving with the appropriate investments, especially given the availability of Next Generation funds.
Domestic aviation generates less than 1% of CO2 emissions
At this time, CO2 emissions from the domestic aviation sector account for less than 1% of total emissions in Spain. Aviation has reduced emissions in recent years thanks to investments in technologies that improve the efficiency of operations, as well as the undoubted commitment to renewing airlines’ fleets, leading to a reduction, in the short-haul fleet, of emissions between 15% and 20%.
Teresa Parejo, Iberia’s Head of Sustainability, stresses that "the aviation sector will continue to reduce its emissions thanks to technological improvements and, in particular, the gradual increase in the use of SAF -sustainable aviation fuel- which reduces emissions by up to 90% through of its life cycle, from production to consumption. IAG and, of course, Iberia are committed to using 10% of SAF on their flights by 2030.”
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