Alex Trelinski
A UNION representing Policia Nacional officers running passport control at Alicante-Elche airport wants the old terminal building reopened to slash long queues.
The Spanish Police Confederation (CEP), says problems are getting worse as the airport continues to report record passenger numbers, led by visitors from the United Kingdom.
The first five months of 2025 has seen an 11% rise in travellers compared to the same period last year- which itself was a record.
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That’s put even more stress on passport control booths serving passengers travelling to and from non-Schengen zone countries like the UK.
Some outbound travellers are even missing flights due to the length of the queues.
The CEP has written to the airport operator, Aena, where it says that the current Terminal 1 capacity is ‘insufficient’ to deal with the increased volume of flights.
It’s called on Aena to reopen the old Terminal 2 building to speed up processing.
The CEP describes the capacity of the current terminal as ‘outdated’ and has caused ‘situations of saturation that directly affect airport operations’.
It adds that the high level of passengers is leading to problems for travellers with ‘continuous waiting’.
The union says the situation is affecting the ability of work to be carried out properly at the airport by both the police and Aena staff.
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