The president of the Hotel and Extra-hotel Association of Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro (Ashotel), Agustín Marichal, recovers the argument that Tenerife South is one of the most profitable Spanish airports, with more than 11 million annual passengers (in 2019, before the pandemic), the second busiest in the Canary Islands – behind Gando (Gran Canaria) – and the seventh in Spain. The sum of these arguments to the importance and necessity of the tourist destination “attracts the support of many economic, social and political agents of the Island and the Canary Islands.”
“It is necessary to agree with the Island what infrastructure we need here”
The DORA Airport Regulation Document 2017-2021 included “only the union of the existing terminals in Tenerife South”, the one in use – “obsolete (dating from 1978)” – and another one “that never entered service” for not being prepared for her duties. The liaison building was tendered in 2018 “without previously making it known to public institutions, businessmen or civil society”, which revealed “the null sensitivity of the public entity with the Island.” The president of the hotel association insists that “it is necessary to agree with the island what infrastructure we need here.”
In essence, with Jorge Marichal Pedro Alfonso, Secretary General of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) Tenerife agrees. It claims “the best conditions” for the Tenerife South Airport as a gateway to the Island and as an essential element in the economic recovery process. In this context, he emphasizes that it is necessary to do so “at the moment when entrepreneurs inject funds»And the State undertakes to distribute its own and the Next Generation (contributed by Europe). In the opinion of Alfonso Martín, if the central government adds investments that are “questioned”, the “ideal” scenario is created to put the work of the new terminal on the table and thereby avoid its delay until the 2030 period, “as it seems that I had AENA in mind ».
A step forward
The general secretary of the business association announces that the CEOE “takes a step forward” in claiming such equipment, due to its benefits for the economic recovery of the Canary Islands and Tenerife. Pedro Afonso maintains that achieving this objective “requires the social support and commitment of the economic and social forces” of the Canary Islands.
CC seeks unity
Canary Islands Coalition (CC) coincides with the CEOE. At 12:00 hours on Monday the plenary session will begin in which the Cabildo will address the future of this project. It will do so at the request of the Canary Islands Coalition, «to seek a unanimous position from all political forces and social agents and demand its execution immediately ”. Its spokesman, Carlos Alonso, says that the announcement by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda to suspend the project to expand the Barcelona-El Prat Airport «is a historic opportunity that we must take advantage of so that AENA allocate part of these resources to the new terminal at Tenerife Sur Airport ». In this context, “we must unanimously demand that they comply with an airport that provides many benefits and that needs a deep remodeling.”
“There is no economic reason for them to say that there are no funds available”
Carlos Alonso anticipates that the Coalition will propose an institutional agreement on Monday that, among other measures, includes the Cabildo requesting AENA and the Government of Spain to include the new Tenerife South Airport terminal in the DORA II 2022-2026 as a strategic investment, “So that it can be put into service before the end of the programming period foreseen in the document”.
Jorge Marichal, president of Ashotel, recalls that while Europe is considering replacing the plane for short-distance journeys with a more efficient and less polluting transport, in the Canary Islands there is no alternative.
Drafting the project
The DORA II project plan (2022-2026) includes the drafting of the project for a new terminal in Tenerife South, in whose design AENA works with the Cabildo. As in the rest of the airport network, the largest amounts of investment projects in capacity have been transferred to DORA III (2027-2031), since the covid has caused traffic figures to fall and its recovery is expected to the last section of the DORA II. It incorporates the first steps of these large investments in capacity, in the case of Tenerife Sur Airport, the development of the project for the new terminal. AENA considers this infrastructure a priority, like everything related to the Canary Islands.
