Modify the operation of the runways at El Prat airport only during the months of July and August and from ten in the morning to two in the afternoon. This is the Government’s proposal, as La Vanguardia has learned, to increase the capacity of the infrastructure and thus be able to take on a greater number of long-haul flights.
Today, El Prat works with two parallel tracks and another transversal one, which is used at night or during periods of little activity. Of the first two, the longest and the one furthest from the sea is intended for landings; the other, at take-offs. The Government’s proposal is that in July and August, in a time slot of four hours from ten in the morning, these two parallel runways become independent, to take over both landings and take-offs. The measure would make it possible to go from 78 flights per hour to 90, the maximum foreseen in the environmental impact statement.
The ERC Executive justifies this temporary period by the fact that these two months, and only these, are the ones that reach “the maximum available capacity of the first airport in Catalonia”, especially due to the increase in demand for intercontinental flights. And they point out that Aena “exaggerates” the limitations of the Prat and assure that there are congestion problems only a few hours a day in a few weeks a year. The calculation? 1.2% of the annual time and mostly in summer.
The plan of the Executive of Pere Aragonès also calls for the governance model, which is currently in the hands of Aena, to be changed, so that the Generalitat is incorporated into the management of the airports located in Catalonia. This is because the Catalan Cabinet is committed to also increasing the complementary role of Girona and Reus airports, in order to channel the growth of flights there in quantitative terms. Interconnection by high-speed train with Barcelona would be absolutely necessary.
In addition, the Government considers it intolerable that Aena, as a public-private entity, manages and governs at the same time. The governance modification is in the sense of “protecting the general interests, and not the particular ones that Aena has”. From the Catalan Executive they insist that their interest is in favoring long-distance flights and they state that the changes in the operation of this proposal without the participation of the Generalitat would be to give “a blank check to Aena”.
The republicans consider that theirs is the best formula so that the protected natural areas of Ricarda and Remolar, which some other projects do affect, are not affected. In addition, in his opinion, it would not interfere with the development of the port of Barcelona.
But one of the big problems of what the Government is proposing is the acoustic impact it entails and which has caused so many complaints from some residents of Gavà and Castelldefels. With the proposal, the Catalan Executive, apart from stressing the temporary nature of the possible inconveniences, assures that “under no circumstances will the legal acoustic limit be exceeded in the affected homes”.
However, it proposes to mitigate noise pollution with an investment plan that foresees actions, among others, soundproofing in residential spaces, the purchase of homes or financial compensation for neighbors. The Government suggests that the 260 million euros earmarked for an extension of the third track, which Esquerra is not prepared to carry out, unlike the State or Foment, should be used to cover this.
In the same way, ERC continues to claim the satellite terminal, because, among other things, it would contribute to intercontinental connectivity. The Spanish government has raised it several times over the years, but has never implemented it. That is why the Government does not understand that its construction is linked to a hypothetical extension of the airport’s runways and 1.7 billion euros of investment planned for modernization.
The option is not known to this day by the ministry. Not surprisingly, the Generalitat-State technical commission for the improvement of El Prat airport only met in January, and to set it up. The Government will take office after the May 12 elections. The bet may remain on wet paper, but in Palau they believe that, in addition to being easily reversible, any government can assume it.
