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Category Archives: Airports

San Javier awarded as the best small airport in Europe Standard

Murcia-San Javier airport by Joaquin Vanschoren - Flickr

The Airports Council International awarded San Javier airport a prize as the best European airport with fewer than 2 million passengers per year. The information was published in LaVerdad, where they interviewed the Murcia-San Javier airport director, Mr. Pedro Vicente Gallut. This distinction has been received just as Aena, the Government of Spain and the local Government are in talks for the closure of San Javier to open Corvera. It is surprising that San Javier continues to lose passengers and airlines despite the excellence of their services. Also, it is difficult to understand why Alicante keeps gaining travelers in the same area in…

Swissport strike called in the Spanish airports Standard

Swissport staff performing ramp handling to a Ryanair plane in Madrid airport / Flickr-ÁlvaroBa

According to the information published in several Spanish sources, CCOO (Union Confederation of Workers Committee) has called a strike for the Swissport Spain workers in March and April. CCOO, the main union of the ground handling company, informed that this strike has been called due to the fact that the negotiations on the collective agreement are in a deadlock. Over 2,000 employees are called to strike at the airports of Barcelona, Alicante, Almería, Málaga, Jerez, Fuerteventura and Madrid (in the case of the latter, only for the cargo terminal). A piece published by TeInteresa informs that the items currently blocking the negotiations…

Menorca seats up 12% in summer 2015 Standard

Ciutadella de Menorca by Pablo Fernández

Another step forward has been taken in the slot coordination process for the Summer 2015 season. During the month of January the airlines were requested to cancel all the slots that they had booked but did not intend to operate in summer 2015 in the Spanish airports. IATA establishes January 15 for such purpose and the European regulation takes January 31 into consideration for the calculation of the corresponding historical rights for the schedules at the airports. Thus, as soon as these deadlines had passed, Aecfa started to deal with the slot requests that they had received for the ad-hoc flights. In terms of slot…

The unions call off the Aena strike Standard

Aena’s logo at Madrid Airport / David

The strike called by the Aena unions, scheduled to start Wednesday February 11th, has been called off. Yesterday evening La Vanguardia informed that the CCOO (Union Confederation of Workers Committee) reached an agreement with the airport manager (Aena) on employment guarantees and the collective bargaining agreement. Nevertheless, they will maintain the protest at the door of the stock exchange of Madrid against the Aena privatization until next Wednesday, coinciding with the debut of the company. The committees of different airports have also called for protests in their centers against the introduction of private capital into the company. The 30th of…

Aena Unions call 27 days of strike before its partial privatisation Standard

Madrid airport Terminal 4

After a meeting held yesterday morning with the representatives from the airport manager, the Spanish Unions CCOO and USO have decided to go ahead with the strike that had been called for 27 days of stops in Aena.  Thus, ElEconomista informed that the first stop will take place on Wednesday, February 11 which coincides with the planned date for the Aena’s IPO. This first stop has been scheduled to be carried out between 10:00 and 13:00 local time. CCOO and USO claim that Aena is not complying with the collective agreement. For instance, they are not complying with the minimum staff of 8,000…

Aena presents a plan to maximize the potential of San Javier after Corvera is blocked Standard

Jetair at Murcia-San Javier airport / Joaquin Vanschoren

The ‘Marketing Plan for the Murcia-San Javier Airport’ was the document presented last Wednesday by the Aena directors to <<maximize the connectivity>> of the installations. The document doesn’t mention the agreement to close down commercial activity to give way to the Corvera airfield. According to the document accessed by La Verdad, the members of the Airport Committee studied the strategies to re-launch the airport. The meeting of the Airport Committee, which takes place once or twice a year, took place at the San Javier Airport. Meanwhile, the Corvera Airport, whose management in the end will be up for tender, is…

Madrid runway closure postponed by Courts Standard

Runway 36L at Terminal 4, Madrid Barajas airport by Mario Rubio García - Flickr

On December 9, ElMundo informed that the High Court of Madrid asked Aena to cease the noise affecting the residential complex of Ciudad Santo Domingo due to the aircrafts landing at Barajas airport. In particular, Aena was requested to reduce operations by 30% the flights allocated by Aena in 2004 (about 20,730 approaches). This reduction was supposed to be effective no later than two months after the order’s notification. The 18R runway of Madrid airport was the one affected by this decision. This has nothing to do with the fact that the runway will be closed for construction for almost a month. However, last Wednesday ElEconomista published a piece informing…

La Seu d’Urgell: yet another commercial airport in Spain Standard

Air Andorra's web site screenshot

LaVanguardia informed that La Seu d’Urgell airport is no longer an airfield, as of yesterday it has become a commercial airport and hence tourist, passenger, cargo or private flights may operate there from now on. This is happening five years after Alguaire started operations on January 17, 2010 also in the province of Lleida. Both airports are owned by the Government of Catalonia. Albert Batalla – mayor of Seu d’Urgell – said that both airports are compatible with each other because they are different: Alguaire is for big aircrafts and La Seu d’Urgell airport is for smaller planes, with up to forty or fifty…

AENA’s press release on Vitoria airport Standard

vitoria platform - flickr

Last 26th December, Aena published a press release. The following is the translation:   The Cabinet approves applying the same airport fees to any flight operating to night-operational airports.  This measure benefits the Vitoria airport which currently has night-time operational hours. 26th December 2014 The Cabinet approved a Royal Decree about financial sustainability measures for Autonomous Communities and Local Entities in which is included a modification of Air Security Law 21/2003 that affects airports with opening hours between 00:00 and 06:00 local time. Consequently, with the aim of supporting the performance and promotion of tourist flights during the day in…

Volotea chose Asturias for the first base in Spain Standard

Boeing 717-200 Volotea Airlines EI-EXI by russavia / Wikimedia Commons

On October 27 we informed that Volotea would open up to 5 bases in Spain. The first one was expected for the north of the country, either in Bilbao, Santander, Vigo or Asturias. Last week Carlos Muñoz, CEO of Volotea,  confirmed to ElComercio.es that Volotea chose Asturias for the first base in Spain. The low cost airline will start to base its aircrafts there in May. Nevertheless, they will offer flights during Christmas this year – on the 19, 23, 26 and 30 of December – to Palma de Mallorca. On April 3 they will start operations with 2 weekly flights to Valencia. After this first destination, they…