Despite Aena’s initial hesitation, Murciatoday published a report that Ana Pastor, the Minister of Development, gave her approval of the closure of San Javier airport to civil traffic which is to be replaced by Corvera. Murciatoday mentioned that during Pastor’s recent visit to Murcia, “the subject of the compensation which will have to be paid to Aena for investments made at San Javier when the airport is closed down was once again raised. The figure is currently being quoted in the press at 37 million euros, a debt which will be shouldered by whichever company wins the contract to manage the airport at Corvera”. If Aena were to end up winning the Corvera contract, they would be responsible for paying off the debt to themselves.
In addition to the above report, Muciatoday also confirmed in another article that as of the 29th of May the Aeromur (subsidiary of Sacyr) contract for the Corvera airport has been dissolved. The official news of the finalization of the contract has been a long time coming; this report confirms the need for a new round of bidding and contracting before an accurate opening date can be given. There are several contenders interested in the bid. According to Murciatoday, the regional Minister of Infrastructure, Francisco Bernabé, said that after all the legal paperwork, “the concession could be presented for bidding at the end of this year, and only once a concessionary had been appointed could the procedures to apply for licenses etc begin”. He went on to say that this could give a possible opening date of summer 2016. So it looks as though the long wait for the opening of the Corvera airport will continue.
Photo: EC-IUX, Beech Super King Air B200, (cn BB-1840), TAS Transportes Aéreos del Sur, landing at San Javier by Fotero – Flickr
