The State of Spain is moving toward a new phase that could reshape how air control towers are managed. The Ministry of Transport has opened a public consultation on the privatization of the control towers at the country’s seven major airports: South Tenerife, North Tenerife, Malaga, Gran Canaria, Bilbao, Santiago, and Palma de Mallorca. This marks a shift that has been discussed for more than a decade.
The modernization process has been met with intense debate. Trade unions and several political parties criticized the approach. An illegal proposal from ERC, Bildu, and BNG sought to block the operation in Congress last week, but after amendments and negotiations with the PSOE the proposal softened, asking the Government to review the ministerial order. Preparations to activate the process are underway.
The Ministry of Transport downplays the significance of the transactional proposal agreed among the socialists and the three nationalist parties. It notes that the forthcoming ministerial order is already under review and therefore a public consultation should proceed independently of any party alignment.
In the face of pressure to halt privatization, airlines are pushing back in the opposite direction and openly supporting the move. The Airlines Association (ALA), which includes major carriers like Iberia, Ryanair, easyJet, and Air Europa among about sixty operators in the Spanish market, urges the Government to proceed without delay and, if possible, accelerate the timetable to implement changes as soon as possible.
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It is essential to start this new process quickly, according to the claims submitted by ALA within the public consultation organized by the Ministry under Raquel Sánchez. The association argues that the first liberalization round showed that the transition is a complex, time-consuming process. The experience goes back to the 2011 model in which air control services at twelve airports were contracted, with private operators beginning to manage them in 2013, two years later.
Airline executives prefer to talk about liberalization rather than privatization, noting that transferring management to private operators has historically improved service efficiency and enabled the stabilization of air fares since 2015. This, they argue, has contributed to an expansion of flight options within Spain.
Using data from the National Markets and Competition Commission, CNMC, ALA notes that between 2012 and 2017 the cost of transit services at privatized airports fell by about 60 percent. In contrast, at airports with ongoing state control via Enaire, costs declined only around 15 percent in the same period.
The association also advocates for legislative changes to permit Enaire to participate in control tower management tenders and to liberalize not only air control ATC but also air traffic services ATS. Currently, law restricts privatization of these functions, and changes would be needed to allow competition in the sector.
Aena, the Spanish airport operator, has shown consistent support for the privatization process. It has joined the conversation in recent weeks and highlighted the potential cost savings for airlines and passengers. Although Aena does not directly perform air control tasks, it is significantly affected as the primary user of these services. Its ownership structure places a 51 percent stake in the public group Enaire, which oversees air traffic control responsibilities, underscoring the intertwined interests at play.