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Construction of a new terminal for Tenerife South approved by the government Standard

Ryanair arriving in Tenerife South by Carlos Lopez Echeto Marrero

This Wednesday, the minister of development (Fomento) announced that Aena will invest over 120 million Euros in building a new terminal for Tenerife South airport. She has pointed out that this investment will be considered in the Document for Airport Regulation (DORA). This is to be approved by Aena’s board at the beginning of January. According to the information published by 20Minutos, this project involves the construction of a new terminal building of over 16,000 square meters that will connect to the current terminal. The president of the Canary Islands – in a press conference together with the minister – said…

UK airlines bet on Menorca, Fuerteventura and Lanzarote for summer 2016 Standard

Thomas Cook Airlines taking off in Lanzarote airport by jBarcena - Flickr.

A representative from Menorca’s government, María Sellarés, confirmed the expected traffic increase of the UK airlines in the Balearic Island for the summer of 2016. During the WTM 2015, Jet2.com, Monarch and easyJet announced they have increased the number of seats offered for Menorca for the next summer season. According to Sellarés, the improvements for the island are a consequence of “the strength of the sterling pound, the good trend of our local economy and the increased confidence of consumers. That is not to forget the instability of some Mediterranean destinations that are competitors”. Hence, Hosteltur reported that Jet2.com is committed to increase traffic to…

Aena asked to open Málaga airport’s second runway Standard

Malaga Airport by Rob Stokes - Flickr

Having Málaga airport’s second runway closed during peak days can generate between 30 and 45 minute delays according to USCA. This was reported by LaOpiniónDeMálaga on October 3. Controllers say that, if Aena left the runway open they would achieve a significant improvement in the quality of services provided to passengers and airlines. In their opinion, Aena follows an incorrect criteria to determine whether or not the second runway must be opened. On September 19 with the second runway opened, there was a peak of 35 movements in one hour. However, in other days like June 21, there were peaks of…

Congress approves 2016 General Budget including Aena’s price reduction Standard

Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, Terminal 4 by Mark - Flickr

Yesterday, the 2016 General Budget process was finalized at the Parliament with the approval of the amendments which were previously included at the Senate. These amendments will be incorporated into the final text which will be published in the Spanish Official Gazette (BOE) on January, 1 2016. As expected, the parliament approved the 1.9% reduction in all the airport charges. This reduction will be effective as of March, 1 2016. Furthermore, the discount in passenger and security charges for passengers connecting flights has increased from 35% to 40%. This will also be effective on March, 1. For this purpose, Aena considers that passengers…

Aena to apply 1.9% reduction in charges as suggested by the CNMC Standard

Boeing 727-256 Advanced Aena (ex-Iberia) by Dawlad Ast - Flickr

In spite of the fact that neither Aena nor the Government have made any official announcement yet, this morning, ElConfidencial confirmed that Aena has decided to apply a 1.9% reduction in charges. “Not only will Aena apply a 1.9% reduction in airport charges  as Competition told them to do, but they will reinstate the incentives on new routes and increase of passengers as well”. The decision on the incentives has been made by Aena in light of the positive evolution of air traffic, expected to finish 2015 with a 5% increase in passengers. These incentives were removed by Aena in the original General Budget…

ATC Strike scheduled for October 3 is called off Standard

Landing at Madrid Barajas Airport by David - Flickr

The main air traffic controllers’ union, USCA, has called off the strike that had been scheduled for this Saturday October 3. Yesterday, they announced on their web site that an agreement with Enaire had been reached. In spite of the fact that “this agreement does not meet all the objectives” pursued by USCA, they understand that Enaire has resumed negotiations. Thus they find it appropriate to explore an attempt of improving the relationship with Enaire. This attempt will not make them renounce the other claims. Especially in the case of the controller who was dismissed in Santiago de Compostela airport…

Negotiations between Enaire and controllers failed Standard

Spanish slot coordination. Airplane ascending while another one is queing / Jumbero

Yesterday, the air traffic controllers and Enaire had a meeting to discuss the new ATC walkouts that have been scheduled for tomorrow and next Saturday, October 3. However, the parties did not reach an agreement. Previously, the Ministry of Development (Fomento) had published a press release announcing minimum services of 80% for this strike. These are the same levels they had fixed in the previous strike called by the controllers in July. After the meeting, both Enaire and the main representative of the air traffic controllers – USCA – published a press release respectively. On the one hand, Enaire said that…

New ATC walkouts scheduled for September 26 and October 3 Standard

Barcelona ATC tower at sunrise by Juanedc - Flickr

The main Spanish air controllers’ union USCA announced yesterday, through its web site, that new ATC walkouts have been scheduled. Hence, USCA’s national assembly approved the call to strike on September 26 and October 3, between 06.00 and 18.00 CET. These new ATC walkouts have been scheduled in light of the “ENAIRE’s lack of desire to resume talks” concerning the sanctions of those 61 employees as a consequence of the air space closure in 2010. They also request the readmission of the controller who was dismissed in Santiago de Compostela as a consequence of the same events. These stops were first called…

Trade Unions call a handling strike in September in five Spanish airports Standard

Ryanair flight-Low Cost airlines lost market

The main trade unions in Spain, CCOO, UGT and USO have called Menzies Aviation Ibérica workers to a partial handling strike in Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante, Málaga and Palma de Mallorca airports. Worker’s representatives have announced that the strike has been called after a “further delay” from the company in the negotiation of the collective agreement. It has now taken over a year and a half. The informations was reported by Expansion. Trade unions said Menzies proposed postponing these negotiations “without any intention to solve any of the points raised” in the platform presented by the social part. The airlines affected by the strikes…

The start-ups that didn’t start and most probably won’t Standard

People waiting for departure at Tenerife South airport terminal / Jeremy Page - Flickr

Islas Afortunadas, Aerocanarias, Victoria Airways Bird Blue… Every now and then a new project is said to be about to start operations. We have been following what is going on with these start-ups in this blog but at the moment none of them have seen the light of day. Last Friday, Preferente.com published an article on this subject. The Canary Islands has been used for several attempts which don’t seem to end in anything tangible. One of these is the case of Islas Afortunadas, a company to be based in the Canary Islands. They intended to begin operating in the fall of  2013. The idea…