Author Archives: Mabel Jiménez

Airport tariffs in Spain expected for 2018 Standard

Barcelona by Camilo Rueda López

After the completion of Aena’s Consultation Process with the airlines and their representatives,  the Board of Directors has approved the airport prices variation for 2018 proposed by Aena. Aena’s proposal is based on the balance between the costs and revenues of each of the airport tariffs keeping a yearly overall index of 2.22%. The final proposal was submitted to the DGAC (Civil Aviation Authority) on 31st July for its approval and it determinates the following variations on the actual prices for the main airport tariffs:   Landing -0.5% Transit -2.0% Meteo +2.8% Security -3.0% Parking +5.4% Passenger fee -2.9% PMR…

Enaire’s en-route tariff will decrease 11.5% between 2018 and 2020 Standard

Barcelona airport ATC tower / Victor

According to El Diario, the Spanish Minister of Public Works, Iñigo de la Serna, announced last week that Enaire has finalized a plan through which the en-route tariff paid by airlines for Air Navigation Services, will decrease 11.5% between 2018 and 2020. During the World ATM Congress held in Madrid, the Minister highlighted that the en-route charges have been frozen since 2012 and the expected decreases will be 3% in 2018, 4% in 2019 and 5% in 2020. This reduction of the en-route tariffs will signify 184 million euros of savings for the airlines, De la Serna said. This new…

Aena will earn 40 million by eliminating incentives in 2017 Standard

Madrid airport Terminal 4 / shutterstock

Today El Confidencial  published that Aena has decided to eliminate the passenger growth incentives for those airports that exceed three million passengers per year. In spite of the change, a new incentive for long-haul routes has been introduced and in the meantime the valley days in the Canaries remain the same. The selective removal of incentives that were being implemented in previous years will compensate the reduction of Aena’s income resulting from a decrease of charges effective as of 1st March. Through this measure, Aena will earn around 40 million euros. This amount is even larger than the sum of expected…

Catalan NOx tax collection to commence Standard

EasyJet above Barcelona by Victor - flickr

On 18th January the Catalan Authorities published that the payment procedure for the NOx tax had been approved through Law 12/2014 on 10th October. We had already anticipated the hightlights of this Law that came into force with effect 1st January 2015. Payment must be arranged between 1st and 20th February through the Generalitat de Cataluña website. We have also learnt that IATA is opposed to this tax and they are taking actions against the Catalan Government. A full explanation regarding its position can be found here.

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…

Aena 2015 charges Standard

Aena logos at Barcelona airport / Lali Masriera

Last Tuesday 30th December, the Official Gazette BOE published the General State Budget that includes the Aena 2015 charges. It is confirmed that with effect 1st March 2015 and with “indefinite validity”, the prices will remain unchanged. In July, Aena confirmed that the airport charges would be frozen until 2025. It is worth noting the following modifications to the Air Security Law that will be effective on 1st March 2015: On the one hand, the discount in passenger and security charges for transfer travelers increases from 30% to 35%. On the other hand, the private flights operated by aircrafts which MTOW…

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…

Handling tender second phase in Spanish airports Standard

Iberia's plane Terminal 4

Following with the renovation process of Handling licenses in the Spanish airports, AENA has published a press release with the terms and conditions  for the Handling tender second phase. This public tender deals with ramp handling licenses for third parties. The Handling tender second phase includes 19 airports with more than one million passengers per year. These airports will have two or three handling agents. Additionally to this, it is bid the ramp license for one only handling agent for both El Hierro and La Gomera airports. The new licenses will be in force for seven years. In this handling tender second phase, the…

The TCO Regulation effective as from today Standard

EASA logo

The Commission Regulation (EU) 452/2014, so-called TCO (Third Country Operator) Regulation, has entered into force today.The TCO Regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 6th May 2014 to be effective on 26th May.From now on and during the next six months, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is accepting from non-EU operators that intend to fly to EU territory, the formal applications for a TCO safety authorization that will be valid for the entire European Union. The TCO will be a precondition for obtaining the operating permit in each Member State, which will require a separate procedure.We will…

European Commission criticizes the opacity on Aena’s charges Standard

Madrid airport Terminal 4

Spanish Airports are not transparent enough with regard to airport charges.This is the main conclusion extracted from a report published on Monday by the European Commission about the implementation of the airport charges policy.The report also estates that Aena do not discuss with airlines the changes applied in this area, so they do not comply with the regulation.The Law in question, which came into force in 2011, requires airports to discuss regularly with airlines about the airport charges, particularly when they are going to be modified. They must also inform about the runways and terminal costs taken into account to…