The subsidies Aena is preparing with the aim of reducing the traffic loss at the main airports lead the Industry to conclude that there has been a change of strategies.
Although in a different timeline, Brussels is working to strike down the practice of financing the loss making flights.
This new system will penalise the secondary airports and boost the bigger ones, especially Madrid airport, as the airlines are supposed to concentrate more flights in fewer airports.
This way Aena might be trying to balance a budget shortfall and the need to find a solution to the traffic loss from the main airports which are the main attraction of the Aena privatisation.
The Aena subsidies will be born in line with the directive on which Brussels is working about the subventions to air transport. The European executive seeks to purge the continent from failed airports like Murcia, Ciudad Real, or Castellón. It looks like Spain is not the only country with ghost airports.
This directive, expected for 2014, will remove all subventions from local governments for airlines to fly to secondary airports where the market would not be kept without such support.
Amongst the Spanish regions, Catalonia, Valencia and Galicia would have more agreements like these. In fact, Brussels is currently investigating possible unfair supports to Ryanair from Girona and Reus.
Source: 02B
