MADRID - Airline operators in Spain expect to sell 12% more seats this winter than a year earlier as travellers look to steer well clear of conflict zones, the head of Spain's airlines industry group (ALA) said on Tuesday.

Tourist destinations such as the Canary Islands will see more flights as some airlines re-route planes from Israel and other destinations in the Middle East, ALA President Javier Gandara told a press conference in Madrid.

For the winter, "there have been a number of changes in airline schedules, many of them caused by the conflict in the Middle East, and Spain has had additional schedules," he said.

An ALA estimate published on Oct. 15 forecast sales of 137 million seats through March, an increase on the 134 million predicted by Spanish airport operator Aena from data provided by airlines in August, before the Middle East conflict spread.

Spain received a record 64.3 million foreign tourists from January to August, up 11% from the same period in 2023, putting it on track for another record year for visitors despite growing local discontent over the impact of tourism in some hotspots.

"Airline capacity continues to grow and we believe it can break the all-time record of last year again in 2024," Gandara said.

Analysts expect southern European airports to outperform their northern counterparts by traffic volume this year, with southern terminals receiving more leisure travellers while northern destinations remain focused on business passengers.

Spanish airports received 237 million passengers in the year to September, 10% more than in the same period of 2023, according to the latest figures from Aena.

(Reporting by Corina Pons and Matteo Allievi; Editing by Charlie Devereux and Mark Potter)