For the first time in it’s history Alicante-Elche Airport has processed more than 11 million inbound passengers through the terminal in a 12 month period, over 40% of which are from UK, marking a new and historical record, and with more than 7 weeks of the year still remaining it is on track to increase that figure by at least another million.

The passenger that took the airport through the milestone was greeted with a bunch of flowers, having arrived at 2.30 pm on Monday afternoon from Gothenburg, Sweden, on board a Boeing 737-800 belonging to low cost operator Norwegian airlines.

Airport firefighters welcomed the arrival by streaming jets of water over the aircraft in which the passenger was travelling and then, once parked up, she was presented with flowers and commemorative gifts to mark the occasion by the airport director Santiago Martínez-Cava.

The Alicante-Elche Airport registered this important figure in passenger traffic, as it prepares to turn 50 years of age next year.  Indeed, on May 4, 1967 it was another woman, Pilar Leaz Lavina, who had the honour of being the first passing landing at the airport aboard a Convair Metropolitan Aviaco.

In reaching the figure the airport exceeds the number of passengers recorded in 2015, when almost 10.6 million passengers were received.