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The Region of Murcia regional government has taken a significant step towards resolving the long-standing financial burden associated with Corvera Airport. In January 2025, the Regional Ministry of Public Works notified construction company Sacyr of the second settlement of accounts, aiming to close the dispute with the company that initially built the airport.

 

Within a year, the final instalment of the €137 million loan assumed by the regional government in 2012 will be paid off. By January 2026, the region will have cleared its debt, initially taken on after Sacyr defaulted on a guaranteed loan, forcing the regional government to cover an unforeseen €180 million obligation.

 

Despite this financial milestone, Corvera airport continues to underperform. Passenger numbers for 2024 reached 907,668, reflecting a 3.4% increase from the previous year but still 16.8% below 2019 levels.

 

Efforts to boost connectivity included a deal with Volotea, which established flights to Madrid and Barcelona in December 2023 under a €2.4 million contract with the Department of Tourism.

 

 

The domestic flight market showed promising growth in 2024, driven by Binter’s connections to the Canary Islands and Volotea’s routes to Madrid and Barcelona. This segment saw a 35.9% rise, reaching 114,770 passengers. However, international traffic stagnated at 787,595 passengers, representing a marginal 0.2% increase.

 

Given the significant financial investment in the airport, these figures remain disappointing. Alongside repaying the guaranteed loan, the regional government had to cover the cost of expropriations left unpaid by Aeromur and invest heavily in infrastructure, including motorways and access roads to Corvera. The PSOE estimates total spending on the airport project at €300 million.

 

The regional government has been gradually paying off its debt, clearing a €40.6 million loan in July 2023 and continuing payments on the remaining €137 million loan, which matures in January 2026. In 2024 alone, debt repayments and interest amounted to €22.2 million.

 

 

 

Corvera airport’s financial difficulties stem from its troubled origins. The project was awarded in 2007 to a consortium led by Sacyr, which offered the most competitive economic proposal. The contract stipulated that the winning bidder would finance and operate the airport for 25 years. However, Sacyr withdrew before completing the project, defaulting on its loan obligations.

 

In January of this year, the Regional Ministry of Public Works submitted a revised settlement of accounts to Sacyr, increasing the claim for damages from €180.1 million to €212.4 million. This revised figure includes expropriation costs, interest payments on the guaranteed loan, and €54.2 million for lost profits due to project delays. Corvera’s construction was mostly completed by 2012, yet the airport did not open until January 2019.

 

Although the regional government is not aware of any appeal from Sacyr against the new settlement, the dispute has been prolonged by legal challenges. In 2024, the regional government had to reopen the process after the Superior Court of Justice (TSJ) annulled the first settlement presented in 2019, ruling that the notification was issued beyond legal deadlines.

 

The Regional Ministry of Tourism is working to distinguish the Volotea flights to Madrid and Barcelona from the broader contract signed with the airline following the tender process. The Ministry maintains that the agreement, valued at €2.4 million, was purely a marketing initiative to promote the Region of Murcia as a tourist destination in Madrid and Barcelona. The campaign, which lasted 12 months, officially ended in December 2024.

 

Since their introduction, these two domestic routes have transported 47,603 passengers – 15,651 on the Madrid route and 31,952 on the Barcelona route – averaging 3,357 passengers per month. However, the flights are currently scheduled to cease soon, with tickets available only until March 3, 2025 for Madrid and May 28, 2025 for Barcelona.

 

The Ministry has emphasised that the continuation of these routes depends on Volotea’s commercial decisions, though the regional government remains committed to expanding connectivity from Corvera to key tourist markets. Since 2019, Volotea has operated seasonal flights from Murcia to Oviedo, Bilbao, Santander and Menorca during the summer months.

 

Images: Aena