British visitor numbers on Lanzarote rose for the first time last year during November 2009.

According to figures just released by AENA, the Spanish airport authority, the number of tourist arrivals from the UK - the island’s largest market – grew by 6.97% versus November 2008 figures, suggesting that the downturn in visitor numbers on Lanzarote may now at last be levelling out.
Britain accounts for over 50% of the 1.5 million foreign tourists that visit Lanzarote each year.  Earlier in 2009 this market had appeared to be in freefall – thanks to the combined impact of the credit crunch and the deprecation of sterling against the euro.
Now however the latest AENA figures suggest that this negative trend has been reversed, thanks largely to the introduction of cheap flights to the island from the budget airline Ryanair, who inaugurated 17 new services to Lanzarote in late October.  These new Flights to lanzarote proved instantly popular – so much so in fact that Ryanair carried more passengers to Lanzarote during their first full month of operation in November than any other airline.  And have now confirmed the extension of their services well into 2012.