The report indicates that a significant portion of intercontinental travelers originating from or destined for Barcelona use indirect connections due to the absence of direct flights. According to the organization, the city possesses the necessary potential, including "demand, brand, and global assets," to attract new long-haul routes, particularly towards Asia, North America, and certain destinations in Latin America.
The study, conducted by the Observatory of Urban Economy, ranks Barcelona airport among the best-connected in Europe and as the fifth with the highest demand on the continent, and 22nd globally. Joan Ramon Rovira, head of the Chamber's Economic Studies Department, emphasizes that the airport's connectivity surpasses what would be expected for a city that is neither a capital nor has its own intercontinental airline. The airport generates a turnover of 33.689 billion euros, contributes 16.399 billion to Catalonia's GDP, and creates approximately 218,000 jobs.
The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Josep Santacreu, has defended the fundamental role of tourism as a driver of connectivity and the economy in general. Santacreu stresses that Barcelona's connectivity is largely due to its tourist appeal and warns that a decline in this sector would severely impact other economic activities. "If we didn't have tourism, many other sectors would suffer greatly," he stated.
Rovira corroborates that tourism is the "foundation that has allowed us to build this high degree of connectivity," facilitating passenger volume, route profitability, and destination diversity. Beyond tourism, other factors such as research, the health sector, foreign investment attraction, and industrial, logistical, and export-oriented air cargo also influence Barcelona's connectivity.
The study proposes a future strategy focused on three objectives: preserving tourism as a generator of international demand, strengthening intercontinental connections in markets with latent demand, and integrating all complementary assets to tourism in route promotion. These objectives would help maintain existing routes, reduce seasonality, and increase urban resilience.
