More movements in Aena, especially through the airports of Catalonia. Now the current president and CEO of the airport manager, Maurici Lucena, has classified as “empty noise” the requests of the Catalan nationalist parties to take control of important Spanish transport infrastructures by dismembering the Catalan part of companies such as Aena or Renfe. In addition, Lucena insists that “this situation is not on the table.”
This idea of dismembering Renfe and Aena could be among the demands that the Catalan nationalists would propose to the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez in exchange for giving him their support to carry out his investiture as the next head of the Spanish Executive. The current political uncertainty for the formation of a government has made different national entities put on the table key proposals for them in order to support a coalition. However, actors in the business world have been against this type of initiative, as Lucena has done.
The list of Junts claims includes the transfer to the Generalitat of the Rodalies service and the roads owned by the State, of the airports of Barcelona, Girona, Reus and Sabadell, currently in the hands of Aena; the ports of Barcelona and Tarragona, in the hands of Puertos del Estado; of the Consortium of the Zona Franca of Barcelona. The claim of the service of the Catalan Cercanías is also on the agenda of its regional rival, ERC, which has already shown its intention to demand it from the PSOE of Pedro Sánchez to facilitate its investiture.
Therefore, if the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez reissued his coalition Executive with the support of parties such as ERC and Junts per Catalunya, they could put on the negotiating table several claims, some of great relevance referring to important infrastructures of the country such as airports and railways.
And it is that both formations have already announced that they aspire to achieve control of both the Catalan Cercanías service, Rodalies, and the main airport of this Autonomous Community, Barcelona-El Prat. Josep Tarradellas-Barcelona El Prat airport is the second in number of passengers in the country after Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport and the Generalitat has also aspired for years to take control of it. But the state, for the moment, has not yielded to pressure.
The Government has not yet shown any predisposition to break the network model with which Aena operates and of which El Prat, which is considered an airport of general interest, is a key piece. A decision confirmed and reiterated this Wednesday during the presentation of half-yearly results by the top manager of the Spanish airport manager, of which the State owns 51%, which ensures that everything published is “empty noise”.
“I think Aena is a very stable model with strong growth. Everyone agrees that the company works well and recognizes the strength of our network model,” explained the executive, who sent a message of reassurance to all shareholders, especially private shareholders, reiterating that “this situation is not on the table.” “It’s empty noise. It is really unfortunate that precisely on the day we publish half-year results, something like this can disturb the current image of the company at a time when the situation of the company is really good, “concluded the executive who showed his satisfaction for the “extraordinary” results of the company that touched the 608 million net profit in the first half of the year.
The expansion of El Prat, from September
In addition, the president and CEO of the entity, Maurici Lucena, has announced that in the coming weeks, “perhaps after the August holidays”, there will be a new institutional meeting between the central government and the Catalan in which he will analyze again the possibility of expanding the Barcelona El Prat airport. As he explained, both parties will commit to discuss “technically” again the possible expansion of the Catalan airport, which has been frozen for the moment.
“Aena, of course, will support the project, as will the Spanish government. So everything is in the hands of the Catalan Government, which we trust will change its mind,” Lucena explained to analysts at the conference to present the manager’s half-year results. Lucena reiterated the great importance of the expansion of the Catalan aerodrome for the Catalan and Spanish economies. In his opinion, the expansion of Barcelona airport should be consideredgiven as a strategic project to enhance connectivity and economic development of the region and the entire country.
