Valencia airport is to receive a huge investment of €400 million to expand and improve its facilities in order to help accommodate its increase in passenger numbers. Plans include a boarding area for non-Schengen passengers but no new second runway.
Valencia airport is to receive a huge investment to bring its somewhat outdated and limited infrastructure in line with its increasing air traffic numbers and international connections.
Valencia’s Manises Airport renovation project will be carried out between 2027 and 2031 and is set to increase terminal capacity, as well as modernise services.
It has, however, been confirmed that no new second runway will be constructed.
Airport management told Cadena SER during a radio interview that the expansion is necessary due to the growing number of passengers.
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Airport operators have confirmed that they have ruled out the need for a second runway and argue that the existing airfield can continue to accommodate the increased air traffic.
Airport director Antonio García Aparicio explained the new plan to Valencian news site Las Provincias: “We have already defined what we call the functional design, which are the general guidelines for what the building expansion will consist of”, he said.
The upcoming project will involve the construction of a new building that will improve the entire departures service, while the existing building will be used for baggage claim and boarding, which will essentially double the current passenger service area.
“In this expansion, we’re moving all the departures subsystems – that is, the entire departures hall, check-in, baggage handling, and passenger screening – to a new building adjacent to the current airport terminal. The remaining portion of the existing building will be used as the boarding area on the first floor and the baggage claim area on the ground floor,” García Aparicio, explained.
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The terminal itself will expand from the current 66,000 square metres to 140,000 square metres and the number of boarding gates will increase from six to 13.
A new passenger screening system will also be installed, which will feature the necessary technology to eliminate the need to remove liquids and electronic devices such as laptops from hand luggage.
There will also be a boarding area exclusively for non-Schengen passengers, in part due to the high volume of air traffic from the United Kingdom to Valencia airport.
“The decision was made to build it from scratch due to the problems caused by flows and mixing of non-Schengen traffic,” García Aparicio added.
Airport operator Aena has confirmed that the works must be carried out between 2027 and 2031.
Currently, around 75 percent passengers to Valencia airport are international flights, rather than domestic ones. This growth has made it a prime candidate for investment and expansion.
This is the fourth expansion project to take place at Valencia’s Manises Airport, which was inaugurated in 1933 and has operated commercial flights since 1934.
Valencia is adding several important new air connections this summer, including a Ryanair route to Rabat in Morocco and a Finnair route to Helsinki in Finland for the first time.
Spain’s state-owned airport operator Aena announced in 2025 that it would invest almost €13 billion over five years to expand and modernise airports in the world’s second most-visited country.
