The stratospheric professional leap of a Spanish executive has marked the week. Amparo Moraleda will be appointed president of the aeronautical giant Airbus next October, thus breaking with the Franco-German tradition that until now pursued the highest office in the European consortium. Executive functions, however, will remain in the hands of the CEO, the Frenchman Guillaume Faury. On the other hand, continuity will continue in another company in the aeronautical sector: this week Maurici Lucena has been re-elected president of Aena for another four years, until 2030.

Aena digs in. Aena president, Maurici Lucena, on Thursday once again shut the door on any real transfer or co-management of Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat airport and, at most, agreed to study for Catalonia an body similar to the Basque one: bilateral, yes, but only consultative and without decision-making capacity. The airport network will continue to be managed from the center, with unified criteria, and communities can be heard, but they do not decide.Aena defends that the integrated management of the Spanish airport network allows for the coordination of investments, tariffs, operation, and planning of the whole, and recalls that 49% of its capital is in private hands, so any transfer of management would open a political, regulatory, and probably judicial conflict.From the directive logic, the argument is understandable. From the territorial logic, it is not. Today, an airport can no longer be seen merely as a transport infrastructure. It is a first-rate economic lever. It orders tourist flows, connects business ecosystems, influences conferences, investment, talent, and international projection. And all of this impacts a specific territory, not an administrative abstraction. The airport belongs to a network, but its effects fall on a determined city, region, and economic model.Here Catalonia is entirely right to demand more than just being heard. If the Generalitat wants to guide its tourism policy, it needs to intervene on one of its main entry channels. A territorial policy for tourism or the promotion of certain international markets cannot be designed without impacting the infrastructure that conditions these movements.Centralized management can make sense in aspects such as security, air navigation, network technical coordination, or regulatory homogeneity. Nobody disputes this. But the economic impact of an airport should be decided by its regional government. This is where the Spanish model goes wrong.Barcelona Airport needs a strategic direction linked to the interests of Catalonia. The role that Barcelona should play as a business, trade fair, and scientific hub corresponds to Catalans.If a territory bears the urban, environmental, economic, and social costs of an airport, it must have the capacity to intervene in its orientation. Today's economic Europe increasingly operates through metropolitan regions, logistical hubs, and territorial production systems. Continuing to treat airports as a piece moved solely from Madrid reflects an old idea of power and an overly centralized vision of the economy.

It has taken more than twenty years, but Aena is finally getting its act together to complete the environmental compensation measures it had outstanding from the previous expansion of Barcelona Airport, which involved the construction of Terminal T1. This comes in the wake of the infringement proceedings initiated by the European Commission. opened In 2021, Spain was sanctioned for not doing enough to conserve the Llobregat Delta following complaints filed by Depana. This presents a clear obstacle for the company chaired by Mauricio Lucena. can return The expansion of El Prat Airport will have new environmental impacts that have also sparked public opposition and require European approval.

Spanish airport operator Aena has explained that the Third Airport Regulation Document (DORA III) for the period 2027-2031 includes a record volume of regulated investments of €9.991 billion, reaching €12.888 billion when complementary investments are included. The country's two main airports account for more than 62% of the regulated investment: Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas will receive €4.4774 billion and Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, €1.7652 billion, totaling €6.2426 billion between the two.

Aena's board of directors has approved the third party's proposal Airport regulation document (DORA III) for the period 2027-2031, which foresees a total investment of €12.888 billion, of which €9.991 billion corresponds to regulated investment and is therefore included in the DORA 2027-2031, as reported by the company to the National Securities Market Commission (CNV).

With the agreement for the unique financing just around the cornerThe Catalan government has opened a new key initiative with the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC). This involves the creation of the Airport Authority of Catalonia, which the executive council agreed to promote this Wednesday at its first meeting after the Christmas holidays. As stipulated in the investiture agreement with the ERC, it will be a specialized body through which the Generalitat (Catalan government) will implement its own policies to achieve "comprehensive governance" of the airport system. "Its creation allows us to overcome the fragmentation we currently have," explained the government spokesperson and Minister of Territory, Silvia Paneque, at a press conference. To this end, the government has tasked a technical committee, coordinated by Public Airports of Catalonia, with drafting a proposal within six months to amend the airport law to create this body and its statutes. The creation of the Airport Authority of Catalonia will therefore require parliamentary approval. The executive branch anticipates it will be operational by 2027.

The Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) has imposed a fine of over €10 million on Aena for a facial recognition pilot project carried out at Spanish airports, including Barcelona's. This is a record fine for the AEPD, only matched by the one levied against Google in 2022. Aena "respectfully disagrees" with the sanction. "Both on substantive and procedural grounds, as well as because we believe it does not comply with the principle of proportionality," the airport operator stated. According to the company, chaired by Mauricio Lucena, the sanction is based on an "alleged breach of a formal obligation." Specifically, the AEPD considers that Aena failed to conduct a data protection impact assessment that met all regulatory requirements. Aena will appeal the decision in court. The biometric program that has led to sanctions against the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) was implemented at the Menorca, Madrid, and El Prat airports between 2019 and 2022. Aena has emphasized that all personal data obtained has been deleted and that no such system for passengers currently exists in its network. Furthermore, it stresses that there has been no security breach or data leak.

At an airport like Barcelona's, which is heading towards a new annual passenger record, any increase is a plus. Waiting to see if... gets ahead With the expansion project, El Prat is preparing to make operations more efficient, operations that will become increasingly complex as millions of passengers continue to be added year after year. This year alone, 2025, is expected to see a significant increase in passenger numbers. expects to close above 58 million travelers, compared to 55 million last year, which was the first time that It was overcome the theoretical capacity limit of the infrastructure.

Little by little, the expansion of El Prat is moving forward, after having achieved reach a consensus The support of the various administrations is crucial. Aena's project now faces one of its most important stages to become a reality with the bidding process for drafting the master plan in the coming days. This is the necessary step before construction can begin, with the schedule planned to start in 2029.

Aena, the airport operator, is taking advantage of the current strong demand for flights. The company closed the first nine months of the year with a net profit of €1.579 billion, an 8.9% increase compared to the same period of the previous year. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of €2.8827 billion rose by 8.2%. Aena's network handled a total of 294 million passengers through September, including its operations in Brazil and at London Luton Airport. This traffic volume represented a 4.1% increase year-on-year. At Aena's airports in Spain, the increase was 3.9%, reaching 247.1 million passengers. Total consolidated revenue increased by 8.8% to €4.7852 billion. Aeronautical revenues grew by 5.5% to €2,556.2 million. Commercial revenues, supported by growth in sales from commercial activities, increased by 10.8% to €1,466.1 million. Aena's revenue rose to €4,785 million, 8.8% higher than in the first nine quarters of last year.

Aena, 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.