In the race to manage air navigation services at three major Canary Islands airports, German DFS and Italian Enav are positioned to lead the starting lineup. They will compete against Spanish operators to secure a Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda tender. The focus is on two Tenerife facilities and one Gran Canaria airport, with Saerco and Airway among the local contenders. Behind these groups lies the Portobello Capital venture fund, linked in public discourse to notable asset figures and ongoing discussions about government support for invested entities. The political backdrop includes endorsements from the Spanish government for rescue operations that helped stabilize several institutions during fiscal challenges.
The Canary Islands Administration has yet to formally announce the ministry’s privatization plan for air traffic control services at the three capital airports. The package being discussed could involve seven regional facilities, a package the central government has signaled it wants to divest from. The regional Executive Board, led by Ángel Víctor Torres, is currently reviewing the ministerial draft order to determine its reach and practical impact for the archipelago. One persistent aim from the Autonomous Community is to gain formal participation in the administration of the airports that sit among the busiest and most geographically strategic in Spain. Transport authorities have publicly reiterated that regional airports should not be left out of future planning, even as overarching regulatory protections exist in the Autonomy Statute and the Special Economic Regime framework.
The two island nationalist parties remain firm in their stance. From Coalición Canaria they condemn the idea of privatizing control towers in Tenerife and Gran Canaria as a political misstep, expressing skepticism about the regional Executive’s quiet approach. Nueva Canarias, while adopting a more measured tone aligned with the party’s self-government role, rejects a piecemeal privatization of airports. Critics of the Interior Ministry’s plan include unions, air traffic controllers, and professionals already working in privatized towers—across islands such as Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, and La Palma—who have faced strikes linked to governance of ATS management companies.
The ongoing tensions among privatized airport towers did not stop the Ministry from advancing its road map. This occurs during a period when the PSOE government faces historical debates about privatization policies in critical infrastructure. The forthcoming ministerial decree is expected to spark renewed discussions about how the state should regulate or share control of airport services. In this context, Saerco and FerroNATS are anticipated to bid again for the contract or contracts, alongside another name change in Skyway that followed a corporate operation triggering discontent among air traffic controllers. The trajectory signals a renewed contest among major international players and local investors in the market for air navigation services in the region.
Recent government actions included a bailout decision during the prior year for several private equity investors associated with Portobello, which has holdings in sectors such as health and hospitality. Reports indicate that Portobello acquired complete ownership of FerroNATS through the Serveo vehicle, a development that coincided with discussions about privatizing towers at seven additional airports, including those in the archipelago. The landscape shows that Serveo, Skyway, and Saerco are preparing to challenge DFS and Enav, who had been disappointed by their exclusion from the initial selection stages of the privatization process. The ongoing process thus features a mix of international operators and local funds seeking to secure a significant role in the region’s air navigation landscape.