With Current Occupancy Rates Above 92%, That Means Just Under 2.7 Million Passengers Traveling in Both Directions

More than 86,000 people will board flights between Italy and Spain each day in August, as reciprocal border controls take effect following the end of Schengen free movement. The checks, introduced at the border between the two European countries, will face daily volumes of travelers on one of the EU's busiest air routes, according to an analysis by Corriere based on official data and specialized platforms. In the week of July 31 to August 6, there were an average of 540 direct flights between the two Mediterranean countries in both directions, according to Eurocontrol, the European agency coordinating air traffic.

That figure is up 9% from last year and 25% compared with the same week in 2019. Airlines have put about 2.9 million seats on sale for direct flights between the two countries throughout August, according to data from Cirium, a company specializing in air transport analysis. With current occupancy rates above 92%, that means just under 2.7 million passengers traveling in both directions. Low-cost carriers Ryanair, Vueling and Wizz Air would be most affected by the controls, as they offer the largest number of seats, but the consequences could be even greater for traditional airlines such as Iberia, ITA Airways and Air Europa, whose business model relies on routing passengers through their major hub airports for connecting intercontinental flights.

With short layovers, the risk of missing the next flight becomes very high under these controls. The busiest routes this month are Rome-Fiumicino-Madrid, Rome-Fiumicino-Barcelona, Milan-Malpensa-Barcelona, Milan-Malpensa-Madrid and Rome-Fiumicino-Ibiza, according to Cirium. In total, there are 172 direct connections between 29 Italian cities and 22 Spanish towns.