Aena, the airport operator that will pilot the expansion of El Prat

MadridAena, the state airport operator, has decided to leave the focus on the agreement to expand El Prat airport under Salvador Isla's government. The company has simply sent a press release announcing the approval of the Ministry of Transport and the Generalitat (Catalan government) for the expansion project, and its president and CEO, Mauricio Lucena, has deferred public comment to political leaders: Isla in Catalonia, and the Spanish government spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, in Madrid. On previous occasions, Lucena has praised Isla's "courageous political reorientation" with El Prat after the project failed in 2021. due to the lack of consensus between the government of Pere Aragonès and the State.

However, this doesn't mean that Aena won't have a say in a project that will involve an investment of €3.2 billion. In fact, quite the opposite. The airport manager is not only piloting the airport expansion, but, as its name suggests, is also the one who manages the infrastructure, despite the long-standing ambition of parties like ERC and Junts for the Generalitat to have a role. This portfolio, for now, will not be touched.

Who is behind Aena?

Aena is a company that has been listed on the Ibex-35 since 2015. At that time, the State privatized 49% of its share capital (an operation surrounded by controversy), a portion of which is now held by international funds. The remaining 51% remained in public hands through Enaire, the state-owned company responsible for civil air navigation and the state's civil airports, including El Prat Airport, but also Girona-Costa Brava Airport, Reus Airport, and Sabadell Airport. Aena shares closed at €197.40 per share in 2024, up 20% from 2023.

As a result of this public representation, the company's president is always sponsored by the Spanish government. Mauricio Lucena joined Aena in 2018, under Pedro Sánchez's government, and had been closely linked to the PSC (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party). However, since its privatization, Aena has always struggled to establish in black and white that it is a private company and that its shareholders, represented on the board of directors, are the ones who rule.

How much money does Aena make?

In 2024, Aena recorded a historic profit. The airport operator boosted earnings by 18.6% to €1,934.2 million, which, following the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, has allowed it to resume an upward strategy regarding dividend distribution. Regulated activity accounted for €3,190 million, while commercial business was €1,780 million.

Everything related to the regulated business is included in the so-called Airport Regulation Document (DORA). Currently, DORA II is in force, covering the period 2022-2026 and includes, among other things, the planned investment for the Catalan airport. The investment in El Prat will be included in DORA III.

The secret of Spanish airports

Aena, however, is shrouded in historical secrecy: the financial results of its member airports and, therefore, of the state's airports. These figures were only published when the company went public in 2015. At that time, the airport manager found itself forced to give that informationThe result was quite striking in terms of the importance of El Prat Airport compared to the rest of Spain's airports: in 2014 alone, Barcelona had contributed more than half of the profit that Aena had earned from the 46 airports and two heliports it managed. Specifically, El Prat accounted for 339 million euros in profits before taxes, 52% of all the proceeds from all state-owned airports. In 2018, Lucena argued that the manager did not publish "a breakdown of the assets, or the assets he owned," while company sources explained to ARA that this was "confidential" information.

While the benefits are unknown, the Catalan airport's influence on activity is. El Prat closed 2024 with a record 55,034,955 passengers, 10.3% more than in 2023. There were 347,977 aircraft movements, a 9.1% increase, and 181,688 tons of grouper were transported. After Barajas Airport (Madrid), it is the airport infrastructure through which the most passengers pass. In addition to the Spanish airports, Aena manages London Luton Airport and 17 airports in Brazil.

Shared management?

Finally, the file that hasn't been opened this Tuesday concerns the management of the Catalan airport. Isla's government, in fact, is disassociating it from the agreement with Aena for the expansion. ERC and Junts have expressed in their electoral manifestos the ambition for the Generalitat to be in charge. The Republicans even agreed on this with the PSC in the framework of Salvador Illa's investiture. For now, this is a long-standing aspiration that hasn't materialized. Furthermore, as explained by AHORA, there are disagreements about whether Aena's current shareholding structure would prevent the infrastructure from being managed from Catalonia.