Ryanair demands to reverse the 4.09% increase in airport fees planned for this year, an update that the Minister of Public Works, Óscar Puente, described as “inexorable” and that the president of Aena, Maurici Lucena, defends to improve services of the manager. The low-cost airline conditions its investments in Spain on maintaining current prices.
“We want to grow in Spain, but to achieve this, we need to have competitive airport rates for that additional traffic,” said Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson today in a forum organized by Hotusa. In the presence of Lucena, Wilson assured that the investment plan for the coming years was drawn up with a scenario of maintaining the rates paid by airlines to the airport manager until 2026 or 2027.
The CEO of the Irish group, Michael O’Leary, met two weeks ago with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, in Moncloa and advanced an investment of 5,000 million euros until 2030. Wilson added today that Ryanair plans to open five new bases in Spain and grow up to 40%, but he has made it clear that he needs “certainties.” “We have the planes but we need incentives,” he warned.
Ryanair plans to transport 55 million passengers in Spain this year and claims to have the capacity to serve 77 million travelers. At this moment, 92 of its planes are based at national airports, a figure that could rise to 125. In Wilson’s opinion, Barcelona and Madrid operate at maximum capacity, but airports in medium-sized cities, such as Murcia, Valladolid, Vigo, Santander or Cádiz, among others, are places that need tourism all year round, not just beach tourism, and only Ryanair can offer that volume in the next five years.
The Ministry of Transport and Aena have defended the increase in airport fees. Lucena has explained that the 4.09% update is lower than the inflation accumulated in recent years and that, in addition, they would remain below the levels prior to the pandemic, when they were frozen.
Maurici Lucena has also highlighted that Aena is a public-private capital company, 51% owned by the State and 49% owned by private capital, which in its regulatory framework establishes the need to find a balance between efficiency and cost effectiveness.
One of the most notable interventions at the Hotusa Forum has been that of Pablo Hernández de Cos. The governor of the Bank of Spain has explained the importance of tourism for the economy and employment, but has warned that “the competitiveness of the sector depends on the ability of companies and workers to provide quality services and adapt flexibly to changes in demand patterns. To improve this competitiveness, De Cos added that “it is a necessary condition that the general framework of economic policy favors legal certainty, the efficient functioning of markets and business activity.”
The governor has also highlighted that the ecological transition is one of the great challenges of the country’s main economic sector, especially for the airline sector, which produces “40% of the total greenhouse gas emissions generated by tourist activity.”
Hernández de Cos has addressed the problem of climate change for tourism and has highlighted that “Spain is exposed to physical risks, which are accentuated by the significant weight of the sun and beach segment, which increases the climate dependence of the tourism sector.” He has also warned of the saturation of some destinations.
The Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereu, was in charge of opening the day, which was held during the week of Fitur, the international tourism fair. For Hereu, the situation of tourist activity represents “a success for the country.” There were more than 84 million visitors in 2023 who spent 108,000 million, record figures. However, the minister has warned the sector that we must bet on the competitiveness and digitalization of the sector. To achieve this, he opted to promote public-private collaboration initiatives with the aim of evolving towards higher value models and delving “into ambition and self-demand.”
