Rise in Spanish airport fees will injury financial restoration, harm jobs
AENA is proposing to increase user charges at 46 airports across Spain
- Passenger demand fell 76% in 2020 and is not expected to fully recover until 2024
- The number of destinations with direct connections to Spain decreased from 1,800 (2019) to 234 (2020).
- More than 1.1 million Spanish jobs have been lost or at risk and over € 60 billion of GDP has been lost
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) warned that proposals by the AENA to increase user charges at 46 airports across Spain could affect Spain’s economic and employment recovery from COVID-19.
The proposals submitted to DGAC for approval contain a request to increase the fees by 5.5% over a period of five years. They would also open the door for AENA to regain their lost revenue from the COVID-19 crisis for services that never went live or that airlines did not have access to.
“The entire aviation industry is in crisis. Everyone needs to cut costs and improve efficiencies to repair the financial damage caused by COVID-19. After analyzing AENA’s situation, the airlines believe that AENA could reduce its fees by 4%. The proposal to pass the burden of financial recovery on to customers with a 5.5% increase is therefore irresponsible. The DGAC should immediately reject the request and instruct AENA to work with the airlines on an mutually agreed recovery plan, ”said Willie Walsh, IATA Director General.
Before the pandemic, AENA paid dividends of EUR 2.59 billion in 2017-19 and has several options to cover its losses. “AENA can easily finance short-term losses without increasing costs for its customers. It has excellent credit for access to finance. Shareholders have been well rewarded and must now share some of the pain. And as with the rest of the industry, there is a need to be operationally efficient to cut costs, which are by no means the cheapest in Europe, ”said Walsh.
A healthy aviation sector – with all parties focused on reducing costs – will be critical to managing the devastating effects of COVID-19 on the tourism and transportation sectors:
- Passenger demand fell 76% in 2020 and is not expected to fully recover until 2024
- The number of destinations with direct connections to Spain decreased from 1,800 (2019) to 234 (2020).
- More than 1.1 million Spanish jobs have been lost or at risk and over € 60 billion of GDP has been lost
- The contribution of travel and tourism to the Spanish economy fell from 12% to 4%.
“An early recovery from travel and tourism is critical to Spain’s economic success. However, higher costs will delay a recovery in tourism and put jobs at risk. AENA should consider the long-term interests of both its shareholders and the country. And both are better served with an inexpensive airport infrastructure. The Spanish government is actively working to open borders and resume air traffic. AENA must contribute to this effort and must not erect a myopic and selfish roadblock, ”said Walsh.
