Top Tips for Travelling with Kids at Alicante Airport

Introduction

Alicante Airport, or Airport Alicante Elche Miguel Hernandez to give it its full name, is the main international airport serving Spain’s Costa Blanca region. This includes the major resort towns of Benidorm, Calpe, Javea, Alicante and Torrevieja, amongst others. The airport brings in millions of visitors every year who are keen to enjoy this sunny corner of Europe.

The popularity of the Costa Blanca area ensures that Alicante Airport is well served my many different airlines, offering flights to destinations throughout all of Europe and beyond. Competition for this lucrative supply of incoming tourists also means that it is often possible to find some well priced flight offers from the major budget airlines that use the airport. After all, everyone likes cheap flights!

These low prices can also be found when looking for internal Spanish flights from Alicante, with destinations such as the Belearic Islands easily reached, often for very little cost.

Sometimes the prospect of flying with children can be daunting, especially if they are young or you have multiple of them. Having flown many times with our 4 kids I can say it needn’t be, you just need to be well prepared and to treat the experience as an adventure (when they’re not screaming!).

Alicante, in particular, is a very family-friendly airport that generally offers a largely stress-free experience. The full details of all their services offered to families can be seen here.

Having used the aiport lots of times over many years, we are sharing some of our experiences here which we hope will be useful for other family travellers. Here are our top tips for travelling with kids at Alicante Airport.

Arriving at Alicante Airport

Before discovering all the activities and events for kids in Costa Blanca, you first need to navigate yourself through the airport. Here are our top tips for travelling with kids at Alicante Airport, when arriving.

Pushchairs

Pushchairs (or buggies/strollers) are usually an essential when travelling with babies or small kids. Not only do you get to push your child along instead of having to carry them, you can also load them up with all your other bags and stuff as well.

Unfortunately, unless you have a small, foldable pushchair that fits in your hand luggage, any that have been checked into the hold luggage will most likely not be waiting for you when you exit the aeroplane – you will have to wait until the baggage reclaim area to get them back. Depending on where your plane docks, this could mean a fairly substantial walk through the airport carrying all of your carry-on luggage (and kids!) – so be warned!

In an effort to combat this problem, Alicante Airport have recently introduced their own pushchairs, distributed at various points around the Arrivals area. These are free to borrow and can be left once past the baggage relaim area. This is a really nice gesture from the airport towards families, as these can be a lifesaver!

Luggage

Any checked-in baggage can be collected as usual from the carousels in the baggage reclaim area. Be aware that any oversize baggage (that includes pushchairs/strollers, car seats and sports equipment) is usually delivered to a separate carousel. All of the information you need is provided on the screens.

Food on Arrival

Usually when people arrive at any airport they are keen to get on to their end destination as quickly as possible, so are not necessarily looking to stop for any food or drink refreshments first. If, however, you are in need of something, there are both a Burger King restaurant and various cafes, including a Starbucks, available in the airport that anyone can use (they are outside of the secure area).

Onward Travel and Car Hire

There are various options for onward travel from the airport, all of which are clearly signed. Buses and taxis leave from outside the terminal building, while there is a dedicated area that the majority of the hire car companies use.

Be warned that at peak times the car hire desks can get very busy, so you might be faced with a wait to get your car. Many of the desks operate a numbered ticket queueing system. This is not always obvious to see when you first arrive if the area is very busy with people. Don’t make the mistake of waiting for ages to only then discover you need a ticket (as I have!).

Departing from Alicante Airport

Here are our top tips for travelling with kids at Alicante Airport, when departing. Sadly all holidays must come to an end…

Security Experience and Fast Track

Alicante Airport is usually very efficient and friendly when it comes to the security check. Because of this you usually don’t need to allow excessive time at the airport – arriving at the standard recommended 2 hours before departure time is usually more than enough to comfortably get through the airport security and to your gate.

What is even better about travelling from Alicante is, if travelling with small kids, that the security will allow you to use the fast track entrance for the security check – meaning that even if there is a queue, you can simply speed right past!

Free Water

A recent addition to the airport departure lounge is the free water point. Whereas before you always had to buy bottled water, now if you wish you can bring an empty bottle and fill it for free!

The water point can be found near to the central toilets in the departure lounge, opposite the shops.

Charging Electrical Devices

Nobody likes running out of charge, particularly is you are relying on an electrical device to keep the kids entertained on the plane. Luckily, throughout both the restaurant and gate areas of the departure lounge there are plenty of plug sockets available. This should ensure that all those phones and tablets can be fully charged and ready to go.

If you are relying on watching downloaded content, try to have it downloaded before arriving at the airport, as phone coverage inside the terminal is not always brilliant.

Toilets and Baby Changing Facilities

As you would expect from an airport of this size, toilets and baby changing facilities are readily available throughout.

There is also a nursing room with armchair and microwave, if required.

Pushchairs in Departures

As is the case in Arrivals, Alicante Airport also provides free pushcairs/buggies/strollers that can be borrowed from various locations within the departure lounge, including from directly after the security check area.

For anyone who hasn’t brought their own pushchair or decided to check theirs into hold luggage, and who has moaning, tired kids on their hands, this can be a real help in getting you to your departure gate.

Food and Drink Options

Within the main concourse of the departure lounge there are several options for places to eat and drink. They are all quite informal. As well as a Burger King, there are other sandwich shops and a grill restaurant.

Unfortunately all of the restuarants are located inside, so there is no chance to go outside of the terminal building.

Shopping

The airport has a selection of shops within the departure lounge. As well as the duty free shops, there are clothing, souvenir and food shops (including a sweet shop to try and keep the kids away from!).

There is also a WH Smith shop that sells a small selection of English language books and magazines, including some for kids.

Play Area for Kids

Located by gate B22, since the airport’s most recent redesign the children’s play area is now only accessible for passengers using the gates located in that section of the airport (up the end, past Burger King). This is a shame, as it was always a good way to kill some time and burn off a little energy before a flight.

For anyone who is lucky enough to be leaving from a gate in that section, the playground is only small but still provides some fun to keep little kids entertained.