Ryanair wants to continue growing in Spain, although it claims that airport authority Aena ‘has closed the door’ due to the increase in airport charges, and has indicated that it ‘would welcome’ the opportunity to sit down with the airport operator and agree on ‘competitive incentive programmes’ available to all airlines.
In a statement the Irish airline said that Aena’s tariff proposal for the Airport Regulation Document for 2027-2031 (DORA III) is ‘exactly what you would expect from a protected monopoly: defending itself, blaming others and ignoring the damage caused by its own pricing policy’. Aena has proposed an annual increase of 3.8% for the next five-year regulatory period, a rise that has been rejected by all airlines. ALA and IATA have called for a reduction of 4.9%.
This pricing path, according to Ryanair, ‘will be another nail in the coffin’ of regional connectivity in Spain over the next five years ‘unless the CNMC and the Spanish government intervene and reject the failed monopolistic strategy’. Ryanair has pointed out that this summer it will grow by less than 0.5% at Spanish airports, including the large ones, while in other countries such as Morocco (+11%) and Albania (+60%) it will increase its operations, as they are ‘significantly more competitive’.
‘We would like to have the opportunity to grow at Spanish airports with this order book of 300 aircraft, but Aena is closing the door,’ the company said in its statement, adding that the airport operator refuses to engage in dialogue or consider alternative growth models. Aena’s CEO, Maurici Lucena, said on 18 February, after presenting his proposal, that Ryanair’s arguments are ‘evanescent, emotional’ and pointed out that Spain is “lucky” that the determination of what airports will be like ‘does not depend on Ryanair’, because ‘they would certainly be much worse than they are now’.
He also said he was in favour of ‘listening to them carefully’, although ‘it would be better if they were a little more polite’, but ‘simply listening to them’, because he considers it ‘intellectual and technical audacity’ for them to assess aspects such as the investments of a company like Aena.
‘It’s meddling where regulation, here and in any country, does not call for you, as an airline, to meddle,’ he concluded. And Iata joined the Spanish Airline Association in demanding a near 5% reduction in Spanish airport charges over the next five years after airport operator Aena proposed an annual 3.8% increase. The airlines accused Aena of making €1.3 billion in “excessive returns” under current price regulations.