The Airline Association (ALA) has slammed the 6.5% increase in airport fees set by Spanish airport authority Aena for the 2026 financial year, and has called for the next Airport Regulation Document (DORA III), which will regulate the period 2027-2031, to include new regulatory limitations that will allow a return to a path of tariff reductions similar to that of the last decade.
ALA said that this downward trend in fees was not the result of the airport operator’s wishes, whose initial proposal envisaged cumulative increases of 10.1% between 2017 and 2021 (1.94% per year) and 17.6% between 2022 and 2026 (3.29% per year). However, the restrictions imposed by the sixth transitional provision of Law 18/2014, in force between 2015 and 2025, limited these increases.
‘The expiry of this legal limitation has opened the door to an excessive increase of 6.5% for 2026,’ the association warned in a statement. ALA president Javier Gándara has argued that this regulation has allowed a policy of freezing or reducing airport charges year after year - with the exception of 2024 - without negatively affecting Aena’s profits. Aena closed 2024 with a record profit of €1.934 billion and has distributed nearly €5 billion in dividends since its IPO in 2015.
‘The experience of the last 10 years shows that successive freezes or reductions in airport charges have created a virtuous circle, facilitating the growth of air traffic, tourism, economic activity and connectivity,’ said Gándara, adding that this environment has also led to ‘record profits for Aena and multi-million-euro dividends for its shareholders’.
ALA considers it ‘essential’ that the next DORA III maintain a similar framework to the one in force until now, in order to avoid ‘excessive’ increases such as those planned for 2026, the first year in which these limitations will cease to apply. Aena’s actions have already had a negative impact on the airline industry.
Earlier this year, Ryanair warned that it is considering cutting more flights from medium and small Spanish airports next winter and in 2026 if operator Aena does not lower its fees. The Irish airline’s CEO Eddie Wilson said regional airports “need low fees to stimulate growth”, Wilson told El Economista in an interview, “otherwise the formula will not work”, he said, adding that the company would not invest in loss-making operations.
The largest European airline in terms of passenger numbers said in January that it would reduce flights at seven regional airports in Spain this summer and cancel some 800,000 passenger seats compared to the previous year. However, it added 1.5 million seats at popular larger airports such as Madrid, Malaga and Alicante. And considering Mallorca’s Palma airport is one of Aena’s most lucrative, airfares to the island are in danger of rising next year.