Zaragoza Airport closed 2025 with 707,493 passengers, representing a 1.9% increase compared to the previous year, according to data published this Tuesday by AENA. That’s 13,138 more than in 2024, a modest but significant advance for an infrastructure that continues to reach its full potential as a passenger terminal while undeniably consolidating its logistical capabilities. This figure is striking in a year marked by Ryanair’s capacity cuts, the airline that has concentrated a large part of the regular connectivity at the Aragonese terminal.
Zaragoza is not a major tourist airport, but rather a medium-sized terminal with a VERY limited range of flights. In terms of passenger numbers, it ranks 28th in AENA’s classification. The airport operator has recorded a record figure of almost 321.6 million passengers, representing a 3.9% increase compared to 2024 in a network comprised of 46 airports and two heliports.
In Zaragoza, the key to the growth recorded in 2025 was the domestic market, with an 8.7% increase in domestic flight passengers, reaching 279,753 travelers. The slight increase in total passengers last year, almost 2%, was enough for the Zaragoza airport to fall just 43,604 passengers short of the 2011 record of 751,097 users.
Figures company by company
These figures prove that the Irish low-cost carrier’s boycott of secondary Spanish airports did not significantly affect Zaragoza’s overall figures. The airport closes the year with an increase because Ryanair’s decline is offset by growth from other airlines.
Meanwhile, the low-cost carrier Ryanair remains the leading airline, but it lost 15.6% of its passengers, dropping from 382,941 in 2024 to 323,091 in 2025 (a decrease of 59,850 passengers).
Wizz Air remains in second place, jumping to 152,466 passengers, a 38.2% increase, or 42,000 additional travelers. Vueling climbs to 109,437 (+13.5%, approximately 13,000 more), and the Canary Islands-based Binter grows strongly to 80,078 (+48.3%, over 26,000). Volotea follows, remaining virtually unchanged with 15,069 (+1.5%).
Except for Binter, all the other airlines advertise themselves as low-cost carriers.
Among the companies operating charter flights, Evelop Airlines (Barceló Group) saw a sharp decline of 30.6%, to 9,311 passengers, while the Aragonese airline Air Horizont grew by 18.2%, to 5,502 passengers.
These figures show that Zaragoza is reducing its dependence on Ryanair, whose share of total passengers is projected to fall from 55% of traffic in 2024 to around 46% in 2025, while Wizz Air and Binter are increasing their contributions.
The Aragon Government
The Government of Aragon has been analyzing for some time which routes Zaragoza Airport could incorporate to connect the Aragonese capital with the rest of Spain, Europe, and even Africa. Since the objectives are measured numerically, the target is to reach one million passengers annually starting in 2028.
The responsibility of Aragonese public officials is to think about the future and the destinations needed by Aragonese citizens and businesses, in order to launch a public tender to award air connections with other European cities or even in North Africa, which could be attractive for increasing passenger traffic at the Zaragoza terminal.
The routes should increase from the current 13 to more than 25, with many of these new routes linked to business interests, committed investments in the autonomous community, and the arrival of large companies in the automotive and technology sectors, among others, especially those coming from China.
Therefore, it is urgent to connect Zaragoza with major European hubs. But the immigrant communities are also important; for example, the routes to Romania, which Wizz Air has been flying to Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca for years.
Specifically, regaining Frankfurt is a priority for Zaragoza. Not only for its potential for businesses and citizens, but also for its role as a hub connecting to more distant international destinations. The same applies to Istanbul in Turkey, and Paris in France, two other key targets for Zaragoza Airport.
In all three cases, it is crucial to persuade one of the major airlines to offer connecting flights between Asia and Zaragoza. Companies like Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, and Qatar Airways in Turkey, or Air France in France, should be able to quickly achieve profitable load factors and offer competitively priced tickets to meet the potential demand from Asian passengers expected in Aragon.
In Germany, other cities of interest include Düsseldorf, Munich, and Cologne, but the high airport taxes, which affect the final price charged to passengers, are a significant drawback.
Another priority is expanding routes to Italy. With Rome already established and Milan, which Ryanair and Wizz Air will serve starting in September, there are other cities of interest. How to rescue Bologna, one of the destinations sacrificed by Ryanair, or Venice. But also in the south, beautiful Naples as a clear benchmark to pursue.
Dreaming is free
Another target is the Netherlands, even with the enormous difficulty of finding slots in Amsterdam or Rotterdam. But Amsterdam, a top-tier European hub, is firmly in the sights of the Government of Aragon.
Since dreaming doesn’t cost a thing, Aragonese politicians are also considering Ireland, as Dublin is another challenge to explore.
Portugal, where there was once a connection to Lisbon, offers opportunities that either the Portuguese capital or Porto, which Zaragoza has been weighing for some time.
Recovering lost destinations, or not?
In France, regaining service to Paris is another priority. Ryanair operated the Zaragoza-Beauvais route, but the Aragonese government (DGA) has other equally important destinations in mind, given the significant trade relations with Aragon.
A similar situation exists with Morocco, where the goal is not to recover Fez, abandoned by Ryanair last year, but rather to incorporate Tangier as an international tourist attraction. Casablanca, with its similar profile, is not as important.
Eastern Europe
The Aragonese government has also been working on the options offered by Eastern Europe in partnership with Wizz Air, one of the major operators in this part of the continent, which can open the door to many destinations and already operates three routes from Zaragoza.
Perhaps the most important is Austria, given that there was a connection to Vienna operated temporarily by Ryanair.
There are also other destinations such as Poland, which has long had options for entering the Aragonese market, and among the most relevant cities are the classic Krakow and Warsaw.
Bulgaria, with its capital Sofia, is another potential target.
Spain
Finally, Aragon continues to look to the domestic market to increase its air connections. In Spain, the DGA’s top priority is restoring the flight to Santiago de Compostela. Ryanair canceled it to pressure AENA (the Spanish airport authority), causing significant harm to a multinational like Inditex, which transported around 80 passengers daily on that flight after increasing its activity with its new factory in Malpica, Zaragoza.
In the rest of the country, connections to Alicante, due to its links with many other European cities, and Jerez in the south of the peninsula are of great interest.
Air cargo also matters
Finally, it should be noted that the airport consolidated its logistics business in 2025. For the year as a whole, Zaragoza handled 182,886 tons of cargo, a 0.8% increase, confirming one of its best years for air cargo traffic. This activity is primarily linked to Inditex, which uses this terminal as its main air base for the international distribution of Zara clothing and the group’s other brands.
The one from 2025 has been It was also the airport’s best December ever in terms of cargo. Specifically, 16,863 tons of goods were transported, representing a 28.2% increase compared to the same month last year.
In this way, Zaragoza consolidates its position as the third most important airport in Spain for cargo, although the gap widens with the second, Barcelona-El Prat, which handled 200,741 tons with a growth of 10.5%, well above the increase recorded by Zaragoza.
The moment of truth
Aragon’s ambitions are clear, as are the needs of the community. While citizens and businesses wait, political leaders have spent years in meetings and traveling at public expense. The time to finalize agreements and provide solutions for taxpayers has arrived, and decisions can no longer be delayed. It’s time for results and to put Aragon on the global air transport map.
