The president of Aena Maurici Lucena of the airlines.
Lucena has responded in this way to a letter that the Minister of Mobility, Territory and Housing of the Balearic Government, Marta Vidal, sent her last Wednesday, August 2, expressing the Executive’s rejection of the proposal to raise airport taxes by 4 0.09% as of March 1, 2024, considering that this increase “would mean great harm to the citizens and companies” of the archipelago, “as well as a foreseeable negative impact on the competitiveness of the Balearic tourism sector.”
In his letter, the president of Aena stressed that, as regards the airport fees with which the airport manager finances its activity, “they are the central element of the economic sustainability of the airport system, with the levels of quality and security demanded by passengers and airlines and with the necessary investments for its modernization and the adaptation of its capacity to the expected increase in demand”.
In this way, Lucena has defended that its calculation – alluding to the airport charges – “simply reflects the application of a robust methodology that emanates from a European directive and from a demanding, balanced, transparent and based on solid microeconomic foundations, included in Law 18/2014”.
Remember the increase in the cost of plane tickets
For this reason, he specified, “its modification outside the regulations is neither convenient nor feasible”. And, in this sense, he recalled how, despite the drop in airport fees in 2022 and 2023, there have been sharp rises in the prices of plane tickets. A scenario that, for Lucena, “unequivocally demonstrates that Aena’s airport fees are not a relevant factor in the definition of the price of plane tickets by airlines” despite the concern expressed by the Government.
On the other hand, the president of Aena has ruled on the fact that Minister Marta Vidal has requested the General Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGAC), which depends on the Ministry of Transport, to convene with the mayor to urge the Airport Coordination Committee of Balearic Islands to deal with this matter.
In this regard, Lucena wanted to clarify that “given the mathematical nature of the calculation and application of the adjustments to airport charges, these are directly supervised by the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) without the regulations providing their discussion in the Airport Coordination Committees”.
Likewise, and finally, Lucena wanted to send a “reassuring” and “optimistic” message to the Executive, stating that he is convinced that “Aena’s strategy with respect to the Balearic airports reinforces its competitiveness and guarantees the provision of the service required by its singular intern “. However, the president of Aena has concluded his letter by making himself available to the Balearic Government “to learn first-hand of his concerns and proposals”.
