Pedro Martín said that in that meeting “we have made progress in defining many of the needs of the airport.” For this reason, he established as «fundamental» that, «for the first time», «a project of the whole of Tenerife South» be elaborated. The island president considered that this approach requires “an ambitious document” for which the 3.5 million euros “put on the table by AENA” must increase. “The technical data indicate that the figure has to be significantly higher, reaching almost three times,” he defended during the negotiation.
“We did not reach an agreement because more money is needed for the big project”
This approach implies that the DORA II does not contemplate the execution of the new termination demanded by the tourism, business, political and social sectors of the South region. An action for which they claim the use of part of the 1,700 million that the mercantile company paralyzed as an investment in the Barcelona-El Prat airport. Of that amount, the Airport Regulation Document for the next five years reflects only 364 million. Martín recalled that this money is provided by the airlines, with which AENA has to agree on the investment.
About to be approved
Present at the meeting were, among others, Javier Marín, executive director of the Board of Directors, and Elena Mayoral, general director of Planning and Environment of AENA. The disagreement over Tenerife South will try to be redirected in a future meeting, although Pedro Martín was cautious because the room for maneuver is reduced. DORA II is about to go through the Council of Ministers for approval.
AENA already explained that the largest amounts of the investment projects in capacity foreseen in the DORA II (2022-2026) are transferred to the DORA III (2027-2031) due to the covid, but the wording of the project of a new terminal in Tenerife South. The company assured that this infrastructure, like everything related to the Canary Islands, is a priority for AENA, although the crisis has forced the investment calendar to be adjusted, as in the rest of the airports in the network.
When the current DORA ends, Reina Sofía Airport will have received a higher investment than expected. Of the 116 million initially contemplated, it goes to 152. Among them, the more than 60 that the construction of the link building between the two existing terminals costs.
Tenerife North
The meeting did allow an agreement to be reached on the growth model of the Tenerife North Airport-La Laguna City. The president of the Cabildo explained that the agreed document includes actions to expand the boarding area, remodel the parking lot and create a racetrack (area for the belts that transport the suitcases), among others.
