AIRLINES have overtaken high-speed rail for passengers travelling within Spain, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
Over 2018, a total of 40.2 million residents and tourists took internal flights, an increase of 10% on 2017, whilst only half as many – 21.3 million – travelled by the fast-track AVE trains, which saw passenger growth of just 3.8% year on year.
Similar figures were seen in 2017 – national flight passengers increased by 8.1%, and AVE travellers by 3.7%.
In total, according to the INE, public transport links – buses, all types of trains, and airlines – within Spain’s borders rose by 3.1% on figures for 2017, with just over 4.9 billion passengers overall.
Urban transport, which covers buses and metro trains, saw a passenger rise of 2.7%, and inter-urban journeys, being coaches, rail and flights, increased by 3.6%.
Other than flights, the greatest rise was seen in metro passengers, at 4.6%, compared with 4.4% for other trains, 1.5% for round-town buses, 2.6% for inter-city coach links and 3.1% for ferries.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com