AESA authorizes 248 flight programs for the winter season and consolidates international air connectivity

• The authorisations will allow direct connections between Spain and 80 countries outside the European Union.
• Programming for the winter season involves airlines from 58 countries.
• As a novelty, AESA has updated its interface to speed up the processing of airline applications.

Madrid, 5 November 2026 (AESA)

The State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) has granted the authorization of 248 flight programs for the winter season of IATA 2026-2027, which began on October 25. These authorisations respond to requests by airlines to operate scheduled services between Spain and third countries outside the European Union, contributing to maintaining international air connectivity during the winter season.

Flight programs consist of a series of operations planned by an airline, with schedules and routes that are repeated weekly between specific airports, configuring a regular and systematic schedule.

Of the total authorized flight programs, 126 are services operated directly by airlines to third countries outside the European Union (EU) and 122 correspond to codeshare agreements, that is, alliances between airlines to jointly transport their passengers. It should be recalled that services between airports in EU Member States do not require prior authorisation.

Depending on the nature of the service, 30 of the approved flight programs are intended exclusively for the transport of cargo, while the rest are for the transport of passengers. In addition, by type of service, 107 correspond to scheduled flights, 19 to charter flights – transport service where the airline sells the capacity of the flight to an entity for marketing – and the rest to operations under codeshare.

As a novelty for the application of flight programs this season, AESA has released a new version of the interface of its Electronic Headquarters with the aim of expediting airlines and their representatives the presentation and processing of these applications.

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International connectivity

The approved services involve airlines from around 58 countries, facilitating direct connections between Spanish airports and airports in around 80 countries outside the EU. If you include flights under codeshare agreements – alliances between airlines – the network of destinations is extended to more than 130 countries.

These figures reflect the strength of Spain’s international air connectivity and the importance of AESA’s work in authorising and supervising international air operations.

About AESA

AESA is the State body, attached to the State Secretariat for Transport of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, which ensures that civil aviation standards are complied with in all aeronautical activity in Spain.

The Agency has the missions of Supervision, Inspection and Management of Air Transport, Air Navigation and Airport Safety. It assesses risks to transport safety and has the power to impose penalties for infringements of civil aviation rules.