cnmc aena airport fees canary islands

Blow for Aena as competition watchdog says airport fees should fall

Competition watchdog delivers blow to Aena over airport fee plans

Spain’s National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) has delivered a significant blow to Aena, the semi-public entity that manages the country’s network of airports. While the CNMC’s report is non-binding – meaning neither Aena nor the central government, which holds 51% of the shares in the former Spanish Airports and Air Navigation company, are obliged to follow its recommendations – it is no less damning for that.

Competition experts argue that the fees Aena charges for airport services should be reduced by 0.59% a year over the next five years (2027-2031). This puts the commission squarely behind the Canary Islands government, which has been particularly vocal in its opposition to Aena’s decision to raise fees by 3.82% a year over the same period. In effect, the CNMC has not only overruled Aena’s leadership but has also, indirectly, handed the regional executive fresh ammunition in its political battle with Madrid over securing a role for the Canary Islands in the management of its own airports.

Regional minister slams ‘unfair’ increase

It comes as little surprise, then, that the regional Transport Minister, Pablo Rodríguez, reacted immediately to the CNMC report on Wednesday, reiterating his view that Aena’s proposed fee rise is unjust. “We consider this increase to be tremendously unfair to the archipelago because it fails to take into account its status as an outermost region and what air connectivity means here,” Rodríguez said in remarks reported by the Efe news agency. “This is not just another form of mobility or another option; it is the only option residents have for getting around, their main link with the outside world and with their economic engine.”

The minister, a member of the government led by Fernando Clavijo, highlighted one of the key arguments used by the CNMC experts to justify their view that fees should go down, not up. “The rise in airport fees is much higher than the actual increase in traffic or than the investments that are going to be made in the airports,” Rodríguez summarised.

CNMC questions Aena’s traffic and cost projections

In their analysis of the Airport Regulation Document (DORA), which will be in force for the next five years, the CNMC’s technical experts also propose that Aena’s traffic forecasts – which predict an increase of just 1.3% – should be revised upwards. The commission believes the increase will be more than two percentage points (2.2%). In other words, Aena is underestimating the expected growth in air traffic, which consequently leads it to underestimate its income projections. With up to 49% of its shares in private hands, the argument goes, this shortfall would be used to justify pushing fees higher to cover a potential loss of revenue that, at least according to the CNMC’s calculations, will not actually materialise.

The CNMC also highlights what it sees as a contradiction in Aena’s plans: the airport operator is proposing an increase in operating costs that is “far higher than the increase in traffic”. In other words, on the one hand it underestimates expected activity, while on the other it paints a scenario for operating costs that is closer to the CNMC’s estimates (a 2.2% traffic increase) than to its own (1.3%). This explains why the CNMC is calling on Aena to reduce its operating costs by nearly €750 million, a figure more in line with the commission’s own forecasts. The alternative, it warns, would mean “assuming operational inefficiencies that are not justified”.

Political battle over airport management heats up

It is worth noting that the Canary Islands and central governments are putting the finishing touches to a first meeting to define the transfer of airport management powers from the state to the region. Madrid is proposing the same legal framework agreed with the Basque Country, but the regional government believes there is scope for greater powers in the case of the archipelago. The Clavijo administration maintains that Aena does not adequately address the demands and realities of the island airport network, and the CNMC’s opinion now provides it with fresh arguments to press its case.

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