Breaking News

SNC Lavalin to manage Castellón airport Standard

The “man-plane” statue built by Juan Ripollés at Castellón Airport by Sanbec / Wikimedia Commons

The Canadian group SNC Lavalin Airports (subsidiary of the Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin) will exploit the Castellón Airport during 20 years for 24.5 million Euros.The airport costed 170 million Euros of public money but has no flights so far after its inauguration nearly three years ago.The award has not been confirmed yet, but the agreement seems to be very near. Details are not known for the moment. Apart from those 24.5 million Euros, the Valencia autonomous region Government would get further incomes only in the case that the airport served over 1.2 million passengers. In this case, SNC Lavalin would pay 1 Euro…

Menzies: the main rival to Iberia in the Handling tender Standard

Menzies equipment at the platform

Menzies aim to place bids for every airport of the Aena’s net and present themselves as the main foreign rival to Iberia in the handling tender, expected to have finished by the end of this year.According to the information published by ElEconomista.es, Menzies Aviation’s chairman, Craig Smyth confirmed they placed bids for the whole airport net, paying special attention to the five biggest airports: Madrid, Barcelona, Palma, Málaga, and Alicante. All five to have 3 licenses each. Juan Lorenzo Vidal – general director for the Menzies Aviation Spanish branch – explained they will go to the tender on their own and not in…

The new charge for the coordinator and the groups of destinations for the subsidies Standard

Transports of the world

A new Royal Decree was published on Saturday with definitions on the two items we were expecting: The list of airports which are considered as the same area with regard to subsidies for the new destinations. The charge for the coordinator: The definition of a new fee to be charged by the new coordinator Groups of airports with regard to new destinationsThe list below shows the groups of airports which have been considered as the same destination with regard to the subsidies: Basel: BSL, MLH. Belfast: BFS, BHD. Berlin: BER, SXF, TXL. Brussels: BRU, CRL. Bucharest: BBU, OTP. Dusseldorf: NRN, DUS. Glasgow: GLA, PIK. Frankfurt: HHN, FRA. Goteborg: GOT, GSE. Hamburg: HAM, LBC. Istanbul: SAW, IST. Kiev: IEV, KBP. London: LCY, LGW, LHR, LTN, SEN, STN. Milan: BGY, LIN, MXP. Moscow: DME, SVO, VKO. Oslo: OSL, RYG, TRF. Paris: BVA, CDG, ORY. Rome: CIA, FCO. Stockholm: ARN, VST, NYO. Stuttgart: STR, FKB. Venice: TSF, VCE. Verona: VRN, VBS….

Ryanair ready to grow again in Spain Standard

Ryanair's plane

The CEO of Ryanair, Michael O’Leary, said today to EFE that he expects the low-cost airline will strengthen its presence in Barajas and other Spanish airports next winter.O’Leary said the airline is discussing with Aena the “new rules” for the forthcoming winter season, but he declined to provide further details.During the press conference in Brussels, Ryanair’s spokesman Jonathan Brisy, also emphasized in the “chance” that means for the airline the Iberia’s “loss of capabilities”, a situation which is similar to other countries.Moreover, Brisy said the new flight between the main Brussels airport and Ibiza, will only operate during the summer….

A new model for the slot coordination in Spain has been approved Standard

Aircraft on runway

In continuation with the ongoing restructuring process of Aena, last Friday, the Council of Ministers approved a Royal Decree to define a new body, composed of Aena and airlines, to allocate the slots in the Spanish airports. Afterwards, the Ministry of Fomento published a press release which we have translated as follows: A new model for the slot coordination has been approved The Council of Ministers has approved today, through a Royal Decree, a new regulatory framework for the Slot Coordination in the Spanish airports. This new rule fixes an independent coordination body, composed of Aena Aeropuertos and airlines which operate in our…

The traffic trends of the main 50 airlines in the Spanish airports Standard

Statistics - Trends

According to the figures published by Aena, the Spanish airports served in 2013 6,735,696 less passengers than in 2012 (-3.48%). The amount is not so bad if we consider the traffic evolution from January to August 2013 when airlines had lost 6,818,968 passengers with regard to the same period of 2012. Hence, from September to December airlines have served 83,272 more passengers than in the same period of 2012.Between January and August, IAG – made up from Iberia, Iberia Express, Vueling and British Airways – had lost 1.64 million passengers. The overall loss increased up to 1.85 million within the whole 2013….

Air Nostrum negotiating with a small group of investors to sell the company Standard

Air Nostrum Fokker 50 in Faro (FAO / LPFR) Portugal, 1997

Air Nostrum Negotiating: As advanced in this blog the main Air Nostrum share holders are planning to sell the airline. Is Air Nostrum negotiating? Yesterday, ValenciaPlaza.com informed that the sale of the airline might be at the final stage. In fact, a small group of investors who might be interested in the process are in contact with Seabury, the advisor hired by Air Nostrum.The name of these investors is not known yet but they are expecting to close the operation in May. Photo: Pedro Aragão / Wikimedia Commons

Meteorological service to be charged in all flights from Spain Standard

BOE logo

As we advanced in this blog all amendments referred to the Aena’s charges included in the State Budget were confirmed by the publication in the Official Gazette B.O.E on 26th December 2013. It must be stressed that the meteorological service will be charged to all flights operating to the Aena’s airports.To sum up: With effect 01.03.14 the airport charges will be increased by 0.9 %. The increase will not be applied to the PMR fee which is set in 0.61€ per departure passenger in all the Aena’s airports. The minimum landing and aerodrome charges for the airports of groups IV and V, remain unchanged. The minimum landing and aerodrome charges for…

Airlines can place ads on the Aena’s web site Standard

ads in the Aena's web

Airlines operating to the Spanish airports can place ads with offers, discounts or informing about new routes on the Aenas’s web siteThis service is free of charge and non-discriminatory.Moreover, airlines can place free banner advertisements on the Aena’s web site to inform about the new routes so that the passenger can access the airline’s web site directly.According to sources from the Government “Aena Aeropuertos have included these actions in their Marketing Support Programme. Apart from placing ads on the web, they offer the possibility of arranging an inauguration event with the press or providing some areas for ads at the airports”….

The Madrid Committee requests the Terminals 1, 2 and 3 are dedicated to low cost airlines Standard

Madrid airport Terminal 3 by Jose Masot

During the Airport Coordination Committee that has been established in Madrid they agreed to request to the Ministry of Fomento that the Terminals 1, 2 and 3 are dedicated to low cost airlines. This would let Aena apply an aggressive fee policy which might help gain traffic for the airport.In November Madrid had 2.9 million passengers, 5.3% less than November 2012. Meanwhile, Barcelona served 2.3 million passengers, growing by 4.5%. Looking at the figures from January to November, Madrid lost traffic by 12.9% and Barcelona only by 0.2%.The Madrid Autonomous region believes that Barajas airport has a structural weakness against other European…