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Rajoy announces an 11% reduction of Aena’s rates until 2021 Standard

  • By – 26 January, 2017
  • Comments Off on Rajoy announces an 11% reduction of Aena’s rates until 2021

Aena Logo by Ricardo Ricote Rodríguez - Flickr

According to a publication in Cinco Días, the Prime Minister of Spain, Mariano Rajoy, has announced that tomorrow the Council of Ministers will approve the first document of airport regulation (DORA) for the 2017-2021 period which will include an 11% reduction of Aena’s rates until 2021.   This decision represents an average yearly reduction of 2.2% for the next five years, which goes beyond the reduction required by the National Competition Commission (CNMC), but is lower than the 2.59% requested by the airlines.   “The reduction for the whole period will be 11% and it aims to improve the competitiveness…

The CNMC tells Aena to introduce a 1.9% decrease in airport charges Standard

Barcelona by Camilo Rueda López

According to a publication in El Confidencial, the CNMC (the National Market and Competition Commission) has notified Aena of the definitive resolution regarding airport charges for 2016. Their decision imposes a 1.9% decrease that the Ministry of Development (Fomento) should incorporate into its General Budget which will be approved on Friday. Moreover, this scale will serve as a reference for the tariff freezing which should be applied during the following ten years, between 2017 and 2026. This middle ground between the tariff freezing solicited by Aena and the 3.5% decrease recommended by the CNMC seems to be the appropriate solution…

Plus Ultra finally receives AOC Standard

Plus Ultra EC-MDG by José Luis Celada Euba - flickr

According to an article in preferente.com, five years after the initialization of the project Plus Ultra has finally received its Air Operator Certificate (AOC). This news means that Plus Ultra now has all the necessary permissions to get off the ground. AESA gave them an “A license” which permits them to, “exploit air services for passengers, freight and/or post, in exchange for earnings and/or rent payment.” The wait has not been easy for the company, especially once they purchased their first plane which must be kept indoors and maintained. They had been aiming to start operation in the first quarter…

Norwegian will operate seven new routes between the Peninsula and the Canary Islands Standard

Norwegian Air Shuttle, Barcelona by Fotero - Flickr

An article in Expansión details how the low cost airline Norwegian will operate seven new routes between the Iberian Peninsula and the Canary Islands beginning in October. Starting the 25th of October the company will fly to Gran Canaria and Tenerife Norte from Madrid. On the 26th of October they will begin flights to Gran Canaria and Tenerife Norte from Barcelona and the next day begin flights to Fuerteventura. They will also fly out of Malaga to Tenerife Norte starting the 26th October and to Gran Canaria starting the 30th of October. These route additions will lead to the incorporation…

Globalia to begin indefinite strikes starting in July Standard

Aeromexico Plane in Madrid by May LM - flickr

According to information published on the rtve website, there will soon be new strikes in Spain. Groundforce, the subsidiary handling company of Globalia, will begin indefinite strikes starting on July 4th. The strike will affect the following seven Spanish airports: Barcelona-El Prat, Bilbao, Madrid-Barajas, Gran Canaria, Seville, Tenerife Norte and Tenerife Sur. There are various major airlines that will be inconvenienced by the handling strike including Aeroflot, Aerolíneas Argentinas, Aeroméxico, Air Europa, Etihad Airways, Korean Air, Saudia, Air France-KLM, Alitalia, Lot and Lufthansa. The strike is the result of the inability to come to an agreement over the third collective…

New base for EasyJet in Barcelona Standard

EasyJet above Barcelona by Victor - flickr

Last week ABC.es reported on the opening of a new base for EasyJet at the Barcelona El Prat airport. This is the British low cost’s second attempt at establishing a base in Spain after their first try in Madrid, which they later pulled out of. The director general of EasyJet in Spain, Javier Gándara, said that Barcelona’s case is very distinct from that of Madrid. He mentioned that Barcelona “is a market that the company knows very well, since it is the non-base airport that we fly to the most”. EasyJet will be using Barcelona as a base starting in…

Unprecedented lobby group formed by Air France KLM, Easyjet, IAG, Lufthansa and Ryanair Standard

Violeta Bulc- European Commissioner for Transport by epp group - flickr

On June 17th, ElEconomista reported on the formation of an unprecedented lobby group made up of some the biggest names in European commercial aviation. Air France KLM, Easyjet, IAG, Lufthansa and Ryanair have formed a lobby to defend their interests before the drafting of new European air transport policy. The lobby is expected to put pressure on the European Commissioner for Transport, Violeta Bulc, on 80% of the subjects to be covered in this new policy. The lobby has its priorities clear, one of the most important being the reduction of fees in the main European airports. European airport fees…

Future looks grim for Air Horizont and León Air Standard

Air Horizont Plane by BrunoGeiger - flickr

Two new airlines, Air Horizont and León Air, are already facing serious financial challenges after beginning operations this 2015 summer season. The website O2B cites the root of the problem as being the lack of demand due to alternative forms of transportation, more specifically, high-speed trains. León Air has already had to discount its Burgos- Barcelona tickets due to a 30% drop in demand during its first month. Air Horizont, based in Zaragoza, had originally programmed flights this season to Munich, Rome, Barcelona and Alicante. However, according to O2B, owing to lack of demand the company has since said it,…

Aeromur officially drops out of Corvera Standard

EC-IUX, Beech Super King Air B200, (cn BB-1840), TAS Transportes Aéreos del Sur, landing at San Javier by Fotero - Flickr

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…

Aena tells airlines it will not lower fees Standard

Aena Logo by Ricardo Ricote Rodríguez - Flickr

El Economista reported that the third meeting in the consulting process between the administrator of the airport network (Aena) and the airlines that operate in Spain took place yesterday. During the meeting, Aena confirmed that it wants to freeze the fees and subsidies for new routes and increase in passengers at a time in which air traffic is on the rise -the year could end with a 4% increase- and the company is already listed in the stock exchange. The airlines, on the other hand, would like to lower fees that are now frozen until 2025. The Minister of Development,…