Iata dismisses ‘absurd’ airport fees proposal by Spanish operator AENA

Airline and airport associations have clashed angrily over a proposed increase in airport charges in Spain.

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. 

Iata vice-president for Europe Rafael Schvartzman accused the operator of “a creative approach to forecasting” and denounced its proposed increases as “absurd”.

Schvartzman claimed: “AENA has gamed the regulatory system for years, earning millions of euros more than it should.” He said: “This must stop.”

However, European airports association ACI Europe hit back, claiming the charges paid by airlines for using AENA airports had fallen by 36% in real terms in the decade to 2025 while airline fares in Spain had risen by 40% since 2019.

It dismissed Iata and the carriers’ demands as “all about protecting their bottom line”.

ACI Europe insisted: “AENA’s €13 billion investment plan can’t be delivered without adjusting its user charges to reflect inflationary pressures and capital costs.”

The association suggested Aena’s forecast of 1.3% annual traffic growth in the next five years “reflects mounting capacity limitations at several of its airports, supply chain disruptions and aircraft maintenance challenges” as well as a “normalisation” of traffic growth at lower levels than in the immediate post-pandemic years.

Iata has forecast annual traffic growth of 3.6 % over the next five years.

ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec noted: “Iata recently announced that European airlines are projected to deliver the strongest financial performance globally in 2026, [yet] it denies the reality of airports as businesses in their own right.”  

He said: “AENA is at the start of a massive and unprecedented capital investment cycle which will enable the modernisation and development of key infrastructure.

“The airlines’ agenda on this is not about the economy and consumers. It is entirely self-serving.”

Jankovec said Iata’s demand for cuts in airport charges in Spain over the next five years “reflects a parallel reality”.