The towers of control of the three large airports of the Autonomous Community –those of Gran Canaria, Tenerife South and Tenerife North – will be operated by external companies as soon as what will be the largest privatization process of air traffic control management in Spain materializes since the liberalization of this service began in 2010. The three main aerodromes of the Archipelago, which in turn are among the largest and with the highest traffic of aircraft and passengers in the country after those of Madrid and Catalonia, They are included in the new batch of seven airports whose control towers will also remain in private hands. They are accompanied in the pack by those from Malaga, Bilbao, Santiago and Palma de Mallorca, that is, the other four that after Barajas and El Prat – which would be the private champions league of the Spanish airports – together with the three Canary Islands are the aerodromes of the Europa League.
The Government follows the recommendations of Competition, which already in 2018 asked to liberalize the management
For weeks now the buzz has been heard about the possibility that the control towers of Gran Canaria and the two airports in Tenerife were in the next phase of the privatization process led by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda. And yesterday it was confirmed. Minister Raquel Sánchez he overtook him in Fitur, the fair Madrid tourist, just a couple of weeks ago, and the truth is that his department has prepared the order that will be published shortly. The order will be submitted to a public hearing, yes, to collect allegations and comments on a privatization process that has already had several previous phases. In fact, the control towers of the other aerodromes in the Autonomous Community are managed by companies. What’s more, there is currently a labor conflict between the two firms –Saerco and FerroNATS– that were awarded the contracts for the management of the already privatized towers and their workers. The strikes, called by the unions USCA and Comisiones Obreras, began on January 30 and will continue during the month of February due to the failure of negotiations of the IV collective agreement of the controllers of liberalized towers due to the disagreement on the salary increase. The strike call is addressed to the 160 professionals who provide control services in airport towers, among others, of The iron, Fuerteventura Lanzarote and The Palm.
Air control of the remaining island airports is already operated by external companies
With this decision, which is in line with the recommendations of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), which already in 2018 recommended that the Government delve into this policy of privatizations of air traffic control, intends to gain competitiveness and security in addition to contributing to cheaper tickets. It was Aena itself, the semi-public entity in charge of managing the national airport network, that proposed to the Ministry that it continue with the liberalization of the towers. The Ministry’s order will allow Aena to choose between the companies that at the time bid for the contract for the provision of the air traffic control service.
“With the liberalization of these control towers, a very positive step forward is taken in the modernization of the control service, which will allow greater efficiencies to be achieved in air traffic services,” highlighted yesterday the president of the Association of Airlines Javier Gándara. From the Government of the Canary Islands They have not yet assessed the decision.
