Passenger traffic at Spain's Aena airports hit a record high last year as tourism rebounded strongly after several years of disruption caused by the pandemic.

The number of passengers travelling through Spanish airports last year rose 16% from 2022 to 283 million, state-controlled airport operator Aena said in a statement on Tuesday.

The figure was 2.9% higher than in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic grounded flights, with December traffic up 11% from the same month four years earlier.

"These air transport records are essential for Spain's economic and social development," said AENA's Chief Executive Maurici Lucena in a statement. "Airlines which were hit hard by the pandemic are now carrying more passengers than ever before."

Spanish airports were among the first in Europe to exceed pre-pandemic activity as they rely more on leisure and less on business travel, which has recovered more slowly.

The airline sector returned to profitability in 2023 as demand boomed across North America, the Middle East and Europe while staff shortages at airports and airlines that had curtailed schedules the previous year were mainly resolved. (Reporting by Matteo Allievi, editing by Inti Landauro, Kirsten Donovan)