Spanish airport operator Aena said Tuesday its first-quarter net profit nearly doubled to 261 million euros ($279 million) as passenger traffic to and from one of the world's most visited countries surpassed record levels a year earlier.

Profit at Aena, which operates all Spanish airports as well as some terminals in Latin America and the UK, beat analysts' expectations, which averaged 196 million euros according to an LSEG survey.

Aena had posted a net profit of 133.6 million euros in the same period of the previous year.

Although Aena's 20% increase in overall revenue to €1.233 billion was slightly below the 22% average forecast by analysts, its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose by 58%, well above the 31% forecast.

The number of passengers arriving at Aena's terminals in Spain increased by 13% in the first quarter compared to a year ago, to more than 60 million people.

Meanwhile, Spanish airlines are expecting a record boreal summer season and are adding 13% more seats than a year ago, confident that consumers will continue to travel despite rising ticket prices and higher inflation.

Aena's passenger numbers are growing faster than those of other airport operators in Europe and the company expects to handle around one million a day by 2026 across all its terminals.

(Reporting by Corina Pons; editing by Andrei Khalip; edited in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)