Alicante Airport (Spain) is located in the Autonomous Community of Valencia. The hub is located halfway between the two cities. Alicante lies to the northeast and Elche lies to the west. Therefore, officially the airport has a longer name - Alicante-Elche Airport. It holds the honorable sixth position in terms of passenger traffic among the air gates of Spain. It serves ten million travelers annually. If you are planning to become one of them and fly to Alicante airport, then this article is for you. We will tell you how to get to the city of the same name, as well as other resorts in the province of Valencia, what services operate in the terminals and how to use your time while waiting for your flight.
A find for the frugal traveler
This hub accepts low cost flights. Ryanair, a low-cost airline, has especially chosen it. With this carrier you can fly to the warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea from Birmingham, Paris, Bremen, Bologna, Stockholm, Wroclaw, Dublin, Liverpool, Krakow, London, Eindhoven and many other citiesEurope. In summer, the number of flights increases dramatically due to charters. In any case, this hub charges less for its services, for which it is dearly loved by low-cost airlines. Therefore, a frugal traveler chooses Alicante airport for a trip to Murcia, Torrevieja and Benidorm. You can get here by another low-cost airline - Wizzair from Budapest and Bucharest. The budget company Easyjet operates flights to Alicante from Geneva, Glasgow, Liverpool, Newcastle, London and Edinburgh. And from Russia, you can fly to this fertile place three kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea from Moscow (Aeroflot and Transaero) and St. Petersburg (Russia).
History
Alicante is an airport that was built as a hub for civil aviation back in 1967. It was specially erected ten kilometers from the city so that the sound of aircraft engines would not disturb the residents. Since then, the resort has grown, and the liners have become less noisy. The airport has repeatedly undergone reconstruction in accordance with European standards. The last one took place in 2011, when a new terminal was opened. Since that time, all international flights are made through it. And if we take into account that 80 percent of the total passenger flow arriving at the resort are foreign tourists, this is a lot. But there are only two runways for takeoff and landing (both 3,000 meters long). Therefore, they are very busy, especially during the summer.
Elche-Alicante (airport): Services
This air terminal is equipped according toworld standards. If we talk about the new terminal, then there is everything that a traveler might need: comfortable lounges in the common area and for passengers who have passed passport control; cafeterias, restaurants and bars; souvenir stalls, press kiosks and, of course, duty-free shops. There is also wireless Internet access, though for a fee (you need to purchase a card with a code). Both terminals have ATMs and currency exchange offices. You can buy or exchange tickets on the spot: air carriers have opened their offices right at the airport. The information service is available in English, Spanish and Valencian. If you arrive at Alicante Airport late in the evening, travelers can spend the night in hotels near the hub, such as Holiday Inn Express, Ibis Budget or other hotels. VAT is refunded after a lengthy procedure. First you need to put a stamp on the store receipt (arrivals hall, ground floor, VAT Refund office). Then you should go up to the second floor of the hub and find the door with the inscription Global Exchange.
Alicante: how to get from the airport to the city?
From the second level of the hub there is an exit to the bus stop. Route C-6 runs to the city of Alicante. The first flight is at seven in the morning, the last one is at eleven in the evening, the interval is about fifteen minutes. The duration of the trip is about half an hour, and its cost is two euros and eighty cents (payment to the driver). The bus has free Wi-Fi. On the way, the car entersrailway station (Oscar Espla) and the main bus station (Estacion de autobuses). The final stop is the Melia Hotel, near the sea itself. Those economical tourists whose ultimate goal is Benidorm, Murcia and other cities of the region can also use the C-6 route. But you can go to the resorts and directly from the airport.
How to get to Elche?
Alicante is an airport located ten kilometers from this city. The name is spelled Elx in Valencian, so look out for a bus with that sign. The number of this route is 1A. Cars go there less often - once an hour, but from 5.30 to midnight on weekdays and from seven in the morning to ten in the evening on weekends. The fare costs one and a half euros. Travel time is about half an hour. City bus number 1B runs from Elche to the Los Arenal del Sol beach area.
How to get from Alicante airport to Benidorm and other cities in Valencia?
Cute white cars with a green Radio Taxi Elche sign on the side will cost you about 25 euros just for a trip to the nearest city. What can we say about other resorts! After all, Alicante is an airport located thirty kilometers from Torrevieja and sixty-five from Benidorm. The most budget option to get to the place of rest is by city bus to the station, and then by train. A train ticket will cost about three euros one way. The golden mean between a train and a taxi is intercity buses. They run from 8 am to 11 pm. The ticket costs eight euros. Travel time to Benidorm is forty-fiveminutes.
