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Alicante most profitable airport in Spain
By Hans Hamers | January 19, 2010
El Altet and San Javier are two of only nine airports Spanish airports to post profits.
Trading figures produced last Tuesday show that El Altet airport closed 2009 with an operating profit of 43.5 million euros, making it the most profitable provincial airfield in Spain, well ahead of the second placed, Palma de Mallorca (37.8 million) and two of the country’s largest airports, Barajas and El Prat, both of which declared losses of 300 and 42 million euros respectively.
The results posted by El Altet contrasted with neighbour Manises (Valencia), which last year lost 1.2 million euros making it just one of the 20 AENA (Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea) managed airfields to run up a deficit.
The data showing the economic health of El Altet formed part of a report presented in Congress on Tuesday by Development Minister, Jose Blanco. This comes just days after it was revealed that El Altet is not among the candidates selected to join the new Spanish airport system model which has the rather grand title of “Co-management of central and autonomous administrations with private participation”.
Yesterday, Blanco opted for ambiguity, making the point that decisions made on the selection strategy for the “unique airports” are still to be confirmed and will be taken by qualified personnel.
The operating figures of El Altet in 2009 reached 90.45 million euros, with a turnover of 88.19 million. Against these numbers, the provincial airport had an expenditure of 56.23 million, according to the documents provided yesterday by Minister Blanco to the Congress. What makes the figures even more impressive is that they were achieved in a year when it is estimated that the terminal lost around 400,000 passengers as a result of the crisis in the tourism sector.
Meanwhile the 2010 economic forecast remains optimistic for El Altet which expects to trade through the year with a 27.1 million profit. Of the 48 airports managed by AENA, only ten registered an operating profit. They included Palma, Girona (18 million) Tenerife South (13.9 million), Malaga (12.8 million), Gran Canaria (6.5 million), Ibiza (3.9 million), Murcia-San Javier (1.5 million) and Bilbao (110,000 euros).
Aena is also responsible for Air Traffic Control throughout Spain, a body of 2300 individuals on whom Blanca and his department have declared open warfare. Speaking to Congress he said that some air traffic controllers earn almost a million euros a years, a figure that he found unacceptable as the company attempts to rebuild its battered financial situation in which only nine airports are making a profit. “Of the total expenditure in navigation charges over 70% is gobbled up by their salaries” he said.
According to sources, data from 2008 shows that about 700 of the 2,300 air traffic controllers earn between 270,000 and 360,000 euros a year, another 487 between 360,000 and 450,000 euros and 77 of the top earners between 540,000 and 630,000 euros. The ‘elite’ is made up of a dozen controllers that with the current system of overtime, received between 810,000 and 990,000 euros.
According to the chairman of the AENA, Juan Lema, the company is determined to cut wage costs of 500 million within four years, while the government wants to establish a compulsory module of fixed overtime paid at a lower rate than the current “triple time”.
Source: theleader.info
Topics: Alicante, Spain | No Comments »
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