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The Transport Commission of the Congress of Deputies has halted the Spanish government’s bid to hand over the ownership of the country’s air traffic control towers to private companies. This second batch of privatisations concerns seven of the largest airports in Spain: Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, Gran Canaria, Tenerife (South and North), Bilbao and Santiago de Compostela.

 

But while the Ministry of Transport’s proposal has been blocked for now, it could well go ahead in the future once the details are revised.

 

The government has argued that handing the airport’s control towers over to private management would create more competition in the market, thus lowering airline operating costs and, in turn, flight prices, without compromising on safety.

 

However, the majority union of the staff themselves, USCA, is opposed to privatisation, especially given that the air traffic controllers of the already privatised towers have been on strike for more than a month.

 

 

“Those tenders between private companies have been going down these past years to obtain as many airports as possible. These lower tenders have resulted in worse conditions for private controllers, because these companies have not been able to sign an agreement with them for two years and, in fact, one of them, Ferrovial, has left Spain and currently belongs 75% to the Portobello vulture fund”, USCA spokesperson Daniel Zamit explained.

 

"Do we want to leave an air control service in the hands of a vulture fund in a country where 90% of tourists enter by plane?" he asked.

 

The union has also called the Ministry out on the “lie” that privatising control towers would lead to cheaper fares for passengers. On the contrary, Zamit argues, a report from the National Markets and Competition Commission proves that “not only have rates not been lowered, but also that at privatised airports rates have risen by 4.4% since 2012”.

 

 

Image: Albert Herring via Wikipedia Commons