Agreement for the new terminal at Tenerife Sur airport

Pedro Martín, president of the Cabildo, and Javier Marín, executive director-general director of AENA Airports, announced yesterday to the island’s economic and social agents that this commitment “very significantly exceeds the initially planned investment” (around 240 million euros) to reconfigure the Reina Sofía Airport.

Taking into account the expense that the drafting of the project will require, the technical advisory team of the Cabildo de Tenerife considers that these amounts are attractive to capture the interest of world-class architecture and engineering studios. Aspect that they value as a guarantee of having “the singular project that was being requested”. In Martín’s opinion, “it will correspond to what the Island needs for the next 30 years.”

During the meeting held yesterday at the airport facilities, the president of the Island Corporation emphasized that the reconfiguration of the Reina Sofía involves a project that must stand out for its versatility, design and uniqueness, “aspects that will be highly valued.” Likewise, basic aspects will be taken into account such as “facilitating the mobility of travellers, valuing the comfort and experience on the premises and improving access to the complex”.

Another singularity of the Tenerife Sur case is that “the bet is not for the cheapest”. That criterion «is not valid in this award, here money is not going to be spared. The agreement with AENA is that it will spend the amount necessary to execute the project that the technical team considers to be the one that best solves the problems of Tenerife Sur Airport and is the best architectural proposal».

The construction of the new Reina Sofía terminal is a demand that the South has been raising for more than a decade. A fact that Pedro Martín highlighted when referring to “the important role played in this process by both the economic and social agents of Tenerife and the mayors of the region themselves, especially, who have not ceased to demand facilities that are at the height of what the Island needs». The president of the Cabildo attributes to this fight “this firm commitment of budget allocation to execute an ambitious and quality project” to reconvert Tenerife Sur.

Ashhotel.

While the director of Airports of the Canary Islands Group of AENA, Mario Otero, recognized the “joint progress” in this response “to the social and business forces of Tenerife and the Cabildo”, the president of Ashotel, Jorge Marichal, distributed congratulations to the company , the president and the technicians of the Cabildo. He called to be aware of the relevance of the announcement of this great investment because “Tenerife needs a single large terminal at this Tenerife South Airport, functional, dignified and with its own identity”, in line with the relevance of the tourist destination.

FAST.

The businessman and president of the Forum of Friends of the South of Tenerife, José Fernando Cabrera (until now, one of the voices most critical of AENA’s management of this airport), defended that “civil society” on the Island must be satisfied because In June, the drafting of the new terminal will go out to tender “for more than enough money for European architects and engineering consultants to concur, which will give rise to the great Tenerife terminal.”

CEOE.

The vice president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations, Ángela Delgado, maintained a positive tone when assessing the work presented yesterday by AENA and the Cabildo. “What will open now and the future projection will make the South Airport the one our visitors deserve, a worthy door at the height of Tenerife and expectations.”

CEST.

It should be noted that the comprehensive reform of the Reina Sofía “will increase passenger service areas by 600% and will be equipped with work and rest areas.” This data caught the attention of the secretary of the Circle of Entrepreneurs and Professionals of the South of Tenerife (CEST), Javier Cabrera, for whom the result of the next phase in the development of the complex is that “the airport that we all intended and wanted will be achieved” .

Chamber of Commerce.

“Now we have to comply,” said Santiago Sesé, president of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Chamber of Commerce. Another of the very critical voices with the behavior of AENA, until now. Yesterday the tone changed: «For the first time, AENA has committed itself in front of everyone to carry out the integrating project that we all wanted. I have seen them very engaged. There is great satisfaction.”

All the managers of the business and sector employers consulted agreed to highlight the work carried out by the panel of technicians appointed by the Cabildo de Tenerife and by AENA. “Now they are understanding each other, they speak the same language. I am convinced that we are on the right track.”

Opening.

The central reason for the meeting held yesterday was to present the new facilities that will come into service in the coming days to business and union representatives. It will be during the afternoon of next Wednesday when the official opening of two buildings that have been described as “patches” by those who participated in this meeting yesterday.

These are Terminal 2 and the connecting building. The first is a construction that began in 2005 and was completed in 2008, but which required an additional investment of 6.1 million in 2018. In fact, on October 20 last year (13 years after T2 was built), the first five Boarding gates. Regarding the T1 and T2 connection building, it unifies the Reina Sofía terminal area. Its tender took place in the midst of controversy over the social and political demand for a new terminal, a work that AENA finally did not include in the five-year investment plan that runs from 2022 to 2026.