ENAIRE strengthens its air traffic controller workforce against a backdrop of sustained growth in air traffic

Against a backdrop of sustained growth in air traffic well above forecasts and European benchmarks, ENAIRE is strengthening its air traffic controller workforce through its annual recruitment campaigns. As a result of the two most recent recruitment campaigns, in 2024 and 2025, a total of 307 new air traffic controllers will join the workforce in the short term, while more than 300 controllers will join by 2030 under the measures set out in ENAIRE’s 2030 Strategic Plan.

The recruitment of new air traffic controllers through annual recruitment campaigns is intended to meet the needs arising from changes in air traffic in Spain, based on forecasts issued by the various organisations, which in Spain’s case have been far exceeded. 

ENAIRE’s air traffic controller workforce has grown steadily since 2016, when a staffing reinforcement programme based on annual recruitment campaigns was launched (with the exception of 2020 because of the pandemic), with growth accelerating after air traffic began to recover in 2021. 

Under this controller staffing reinforcement plan, a total of 906 posts had been advertised by 2025, and a further call for controller positions will be approved before the end of the year, offering a similar number of posts to the previous two. 

In other words, between 2024 and 2025, 307 new air traffic controller posts were advertised in two annual recruitment rounds: 158 in 2024 and 149 in 2025. 

As a result, the 2026–2027 Summer Plan has added a net 79 controllers compared with summer 2025 to meet summer staffing needs.

Bringing new controllers on board takes between two and three years because the applicable regulations require several stages of training in addition to the selection process. In other European countries, this period can extend to as much as 4 years, which shows that it is not feasible to plan workforce increases only 12 months in advance.

In July ENAIRE handled a total of 257,909 flights, 5.5% more than in July 2025. This exponential growth in air traffic, which has exceeded all forecasts, has been accompanied by a 20.8% reduction in delays attributable to air traffic control compared with the same month a year earlier.

This improvement has been made possible by optimising and redesigning routes to balance capacity and demand, improving traffic flow management and, above all, through the commitment of ENAIRE’s professionals.

According to EUROCONTROL data, ENAIRE does not top the delay rankings and, in any event, these comparisons need to be set against traffic levels and the recovery in traffic following the pandemic. 

In fact, the increase in air traffic in Spain this summer contrasts markedly with the trend in air traffic in Europe. In July, air traffic growth in Spain was 2.6 percentage points above the European average compared with 2025 (+2.9%), and 13.6 percentage points above the European average compared with 2019, the pre-pandemic reference year (16.8% in Spain versus 3.2% in Europe) In cumulative terms through the end of July, Europe remains close to 2019 traffic levels, while Spain is almost 20% above pre-pandemic levels.

The all-time record of 8,103 commercial flights handled in a single day set in 2025 (on 5 July and 9 August) was surpassed on 7 occasions in June 2026 and on 30 occasions in July 2026; in other words, the 2025 record was beaten on virtually every day of July.

On 1 August, ENAIRE handled an all-time record of 8,548 flights.

In the first seven months, ENAIRE handled more than 1.4 million flights, 4.2% more than in the same period of 2025.