16 per cent rise in Britons in Minorca

Minorca airport has set a new passenger record. Last month for the first time ever, the airport handled over 500'000 passengers. According to Spanish airport and air traffic control authority AENA, the airport handled 509.737 passengers, not only a record for one month, but also nearly nine per cent more than during August 2000. The majority of the passengers were from the United Kingdom. Over half, 257.563 were UK holidaymakers, an increase of 16 per cent in comparison to August last year, while the number of Germans, 46.864, represented a drop of 14 per cent. The biggest increase was however in the Irish market. While only 10.585 Irish tourists visited Minorca last month, the figure represented an increase of 57.16 per cent. The Dutch market dropped by nearly ten per cent and the Belgian by 5.5 per cent. There was however a slight increase in the number of French holidaymakers. The sharpest fall, was in the number of Swiss visitors which dropped by 40 per cent. The number of Spanish rose by 8.42 per cent.