Transport is confident that this proposal from Aena will lead to lower ticket costs for travelers
The government is restoring plans to privatize more control towers at Spanish airports, where only 16 are currently under this type of management. The Ministry of Transport plans to issue a ministerial order for a public hearing for the liberalization of this service at the airports of Bilbao, Santiago, Palma de Mallorca, Málaga-Costa del Sol, Tenerife Sur, Tenerofe Norte and Gran Canaria.
As El Confidencial announced yesterday, the proposal responds to a request from Aena, the manager of Spanish airports. And it would lead to the industry’s largest privatization since 2010. The idea is that the process will help Aena have the ability to choose between multiple providers, which would lead to lower rates. This in turn would allow a reduction in the cost of air transport, which would also translate into lower costs for passengers in the form of cheaper tickets.
During the last edition of Fitur, the sector’s minister, Raquel Sánchez, already anticipated this possibility of outsourcing this service in these seven centers that concentrate a third of all air traffic in Spain. In terms of security, they defend from the ministry that it is fully guaranteed, since only companies certified by the Spanish security service or another European Union regulator are allowed to provide the tower control service.
This second phase of liberalization has been demanded for years by organizations such as the National Commission for Markets and Competition, which published a report a few years ago in which it stated that “the implementation of liberalization in the 12 towers has resulted in efficiency gains in the provision of services.”
The ministry’s plan coincides with a moment of full-blown conflict due to the strike of controllers in some of the already liberalized towers, after Serveo took control. The mobilizations – prompted by the failure of negotiations on salary increases for the next few years – began on January 30 and calls for strikes were made on February 13, 20 and 27.
The strike also stems from the disagreement between the air traffic controllers who work in these towers and the Business Association of Civil Air Traffic Providers of the Liberalized Market (APCTA), which also includes the private providers of the liberalized market, Saerco and FerroNATS.
In all, the call to strike is addressed to the 160 professionals who provide control services in the towers of the airports of A Coruña, Alicante-Elche, Castellón, Cuatro Vientos, El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Ibiza, Jerez, Lanzarote, La Palma , Lleida, Murcia, Sabadell, Seville, Valencia and Vigo.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
