The employers’ association of Tenerife fears that the Island’s two airports will lose public investment as a result of the increase in air taxes announced by the manager of these infrastructures in Spain, Aena. The president of CEOE Tenerife, Pedro Alfonso, assured yesterday that the increase in airport taxes by more than 4% will lead airlines to reduce their investments and “This may have an effect on the important public departures planned for the passenger terminals of Tenerife South and Tenerife North.”
Pedro Alfonso joins the main political authorities of Canary Islands who charge against this decision by Aena. The Minister of Tourism and Employment of the Government of the Canary Islands, Jéssica de Lion, warned that if airport taxes are raised, the Islands will lose competitiveness compared to Egypt, Turkey or Tunisia, which are their main competitors. These statements come after the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, confirmed that the airport manager Aena will raise its rates in March by 4.09% as the company had proposed.
The counselor, who insisted at a press conference that the freeze on airport taxes for the Islands agreed until 2026 be respected, pointed out that although tourist demand “at the moment is strong” there may come a time when it drops and that, with the increase in rates, competitiveness is lost with respect to other countries.
“A very sensitive matter”
The president of CEOE Tenerife asks the national government to “backtrack” on this determination because it is “a very sensitive issue for the Canary Islands”, which “can have important repercussions, not only on the investments planned by Aena for the two Tenerife airports.” , but in general in the connectivity of the Islands with the outside world, especially with the countries from which the tourists who choose the Islands come. «The reduction of investments by airlines can cause a cut in flights, which can be very detrimental for a region that depends as much on air traffic as the Canary Islands,” stressed Pedro Alfonso.
“This rate increase must be suspended, in the same way that Aena must be clear with its intentions to improve at the two airports in Tenerife, since both urgently need improvements in their facilities, especially in the passenger terminal,” the director made clear. head of the Tenerife business association.
Canary Islands, an exception
The Minister of Tourism, for her part, asked that the Islands be an “exception” to the increase in airport rates proposed by Aena of 4.09%, and which will come into force from March, as they are an island territory. In a press release, she highlighted that this request is based on the fact that the Archipelago is “an isolated territory and cannot be treated the same as the national airport network, as stated in the Economic and Fiscal Regime (REF).” In addition, she placed special emphasis on the fact that in the Canary Islands air transport is a “necessity” for the citizens and because it can “harm” tourism, the main industry of the Archipelago.
