A head-on clash between Ryanair, the largest airline in the Spanish market, and Aena, the manager of the Spanish airport network, over the upcoming airport tax increase. Aena management has proposed increasing the rates paid by airlines to use airports by 4.09% from next March, and the Ministry of Transport has already shown its support for the increase while it awaits official approval.. It’s an increase that airlines have publicly denied, with Ryanair one of the most visible hitters.
To prove itself as the leading airline in Spain, Ryanair has devised a growth plan that will see a strong increase of 40% from current 55 million passengers to 77 million in 2040. A roadmap envisaging an investment of 5 billion euros to allocate 33 new aircraft to Spanish airports, open five new operating bases and increase the 730 routes currently in operation to over 1,000 by the end of the decade.
Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson The intensity of the expansion plan in Spain in the coming years Aena It stopped a proposed increase in airport fees and warned that working at airports in other countries could be more attractive if the costs incurred by the company increase. Like Italy, Greece or Morocco. “We want to grow in Spain, but to achieve this, we need competitive airport prices for additional traffic,” warned Wilson, who attended the HotusaExplora tourism innovation forum in Madrid on Monday and shared the stage with its president. Aena herself, Maurici Lucena. “Ryanair will buy 400 new planes in the coming years. The question is how many of them will come to Spain. It is really important for airports to be competitive,” said the senior manager of the low-cost giant.
Ryanair’s CEO has already complained to Spanish management Aena offers “incentives” to underwrite planned investments in both airport taxes and other aspects of transport taxation. “Airlines make their new decisions based on costs. If costs increase, we may look for other destinations (…) Spain must move forward, and the way to do this is by reducing costs.”
Some “incentives” that Ryanair claims facilitate its intention to open new operating bases at regional airports such as Valladolid, Vigo, Asturias, Santander or Jerez de la Frontera (Cádiz). “We want to distribute more traffic to Spanish regions for 12 months of the year,” said Ryaniar, underlining that the expansion plan was designed with the assumption that airport tariffs will be frozen until the 2026/2027 season.
Aena defends the rise
Maurici Lucena, president of Aena, He hit back at Ryanair’s chief executive, defending his proposal to increase airport fees to face the huge investments the Spanish airport network will need to expand capacity in the coming years. and at the same time guaranteeing “reasonable profitability” to its shareholders (51% of the group is controlled by the State through Enaire and 49% is in private hands).
“The model must be sustainable,” Lucena said in defense of the planned increase in airport taxes following a downward trend over the past decade. The Aena president underlined that rates were reduced by 11% between 2015 and 2023, at a time when inflation in Spain increased by 21% (i.e. the decrease in rates in real terms in nine years was around 32%). If the interest rate is approved at the expected level of 4.09%, rates in 2024 will remain below the pre-pandemic 2019 level, despite inflation increasing by 15%.
Last year Aena’s airports in Spain reached a record 283 million passengers and there is still room for growth, as the maximum capacity of the entire network is 350 million. “Major tourist airports and centers such as Madrid and Barcelona are approaching the limits of their capacity.”Lucena stated that he would defend the investment plan that the group would implement. “Aena needs to accelerate the expansion of its airports. The pace of investments will also be much more intense. Rates need to adapt to this pace of investment and guarantee reasonable profitability to its shareholders, who are of the same quality as Aena. Ryanair shareholders,” he concluded.