airports

The Spanish Government decided that five members will be appointed by Catalan administrations and the business community, and four others will be nominated by the Spanish Airport Authority (AENA). However, decisions will be taken with a two third majority. It will decide on airport taxes, routes and other strategic aspects. 29.5 million passengers passed through Barcelona El Prat Airport in the first ten months of 2011, a figure already higher than that registered for all of 2010.

Up to 80 daily operations take place between the Catalan and the Spanish capitals The fourth route with the greatest passenger volume is Barcelona to Palma de Mallorca.

Thanks to a five-year contract, the Catalan Government undertakes the enlargement of the airport terminal and Neilson-Thomas Cook agrees to include ski resorts in the Lleida Pyrenees as part of its winter holiday offer.

Barcelona El Prat and Madrid Barajas airports will be run by private operators. The Spanish Government has already started informal contacts with potential private operators. Public competition would begin this summer, would take place in two phases and will end before the end of 2011.

Goods transportation is increasing at Barcelona Airport since it experienced a drop in 2009 due to the global economic crisis. Two companies have already announced that they will establish their services in the area. Barcelona Airport transported 104,280 tonnes of goods in 2010.

The strike threatened by Spanish airport staff was finally cancelled as an agreement was reached between the ministry and trade unions. Air Berlin announced a flight increase in Barcelona: 38 flights per week will link the Catalan capital with Düsseldorf. The Spanish Minister for Transport insisted that the tender process to manage the airport will be issued before the end of the year.

The Catalan company, which manages transport infrastructures, increased its net profit by 6.1% in comparison to 2009. Abertis announced yesterday it would split its business in two different companies.

One company will run the highway, airports and telecommunications business; another company will control the parking and logistic services. Shareholder distribution will not be changed. Abertis is a Catalan transport and communication services multinational, present in many countries.

The Spanish Parliament approved a motion to start decentralising the airport model. The motion relates to the two main airports: Madrid and Barcelona. The Autonomous Communities, local administrations and the private sector would have a say in the management of the main airports.

Barcelona-El Prat Airport had 29.1 million passengers, which means that Barcelona’s is Europe’s 9th airport. Girona airport saw a decrease of 8% in passenger traffic and Reus airport one of 16.7%.

The main Catalan airport received 15,1% more passengers in November, in comparison with last year. However, Girona and Reus airports are losing passengers.

Zapatero's government justifies the decision to declare the state of alert and guarantees that the Christmas holidays will not suffer any disruptions. However, passengers face new threats as ground staff considers taking industrial action against the plans to privatise the air traffic authority

Up to 300.000 passengers have been left stranded by an unauthorised strike by air traffic controllers. The walkout started at the beginning of a national holiday.

The company will partner with Spanair to offer direct flights to Sao Paulo starting in 2011. Singapore Airlines hopes to offer more direct flights from Barcelona to other South American capitals in the near future, announce its Executive Vice President of the airline.

Fewer trips, cheaper and shorter. More and more Spanish companies are choosing low-cost airlines when it comes to business travel. The Catalan company Vueling has felt the effects of this trend and already has 40% of its passengers travel for work-related purposes.