The President of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, thanked this Tuesday the President of Aena, Maurici Lucena, that the line of work that he has been developing with the Ministry of Public Works, Housing and Mobility, "has begun to bear fruit: we already have the tenders for drafting the expansion projects for the airports of Tenerife South, Tenerife North and Lanzarote awarded; and it is possible to include an investment of 1,000 million euros in the airports of Tenerife North, Tenerife South and Lanzarote for the next period 2027-2031.”
Clavijo highlighted that in this year and a half, progress has been made on several issues related to airport facilities and stressed that "when we sit down to work on fair demands, and if there is a predisposition on both sides, agreements are reached."
Along those lines, he added that they had raised with Aena's executives the possibility of the Canary Islands having "a new airport management model in which the Canary Islands participate through a Governing Council, similar to the one that has been agreed in Catalonia, precisely replacing the current airport coordination committee."
The Minister of Public Works, Housing and Mobility, Pablo Rodríguez, insisted that "the Autonomous Community, with a unique territory and eight airports, aspires to have a determining role in the definition, articulation and management of the airport system in the islands, and that its functions, composition and means allow this will to materialize.”
He also added that the network of airports in the Canary Islands is a strategic element for the connectivity, economic development and tourism of the islands, and a shared management model would guarantee efficient, sustainable administration in accordance with the specific needs of the archipelago with the following objectives: "Improve operational efficiency and service quality; guarantee management adapted to the needs of the territory, promote investment in airport infrastructure; ensure environmental sustainability and emission reduction; and strengthen the connectivity and accessibility of the islands.”
To achieve this objective, the Government of the Canary Islands proposes a feasibility study and regulatory framework, initiate inter-institutional negotiation between the Government of Spain, AENA and the Government of the Canary Islands for the definition of the model and the creation of the management body.
Statute
It should be remembered that the Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands establishes in its article 161 that "the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands is responsible for participating in the planning and programming and management of ports and airports of general interest in the terms determined by state regulations, as they are essential networks for the connection of the territory as an outermost region.”
It also states that "the ports and airports located in the Canary Islands classified as being of general interest that are not of autonomous competence because they are managed directly by the State, in accordance with section 1 of this article, have a special operating regime established in a law in which the Canarian public administrations will participate due to the archipelagic and outermost nature.”
In this sense, "the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands may participate, under the terms established in state legislation, in the decisions adopted on the establishment of fees, public prices or public patrimonial services that affect the Canarian airports.”