Raquel Sánchez announces that ENAIRE's charges will remain below those of 2019 to ease the recovery of the air sector, and the hiring of 90 air traffic controllers

Raquel Sánchez, the Minister of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda (MITMA), announced today at the New Economy Forum that ENAIRE's charges will remain below those of 2019 so as to ease the recovery of the air sector in Spain.

Through 2024, ENAIRE will maintain its air navigation charges below 2019 levels, a year in which the state-owned company of the MITMA was already operating with the lowest charges in the last 10 years, and which were among the most competitive in Europe. As a result, the continental charges in 2022 will be 19.4% lower than in 2019, and in the Canary Islands they will be lowered by 14.4%.

It is worth noting that in an effort to aid the recovery of the aviation sector, ENAIRE dropped its air navigation charges for continental routes by 26% between 2020 and 2021. Of the 41 countries in EUROCONTROL, Spain has reduced its air navigation charges the most in 2021.

ENAIRE thus seeks to contribute to the interdependence that exists between every link in the air transport value chain. The goal is to make facilities and services available to airlines at the lowest prices possible.

This important effort to contain charges is above and beyond what is required under European regulations, and ENAIRE will therefore make the necessary economic and efficiency effort, and recoup less of its costs than it is entitled to pursuant to regulations.

Call for air traffic controllers

The Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda is making an effort, through ENAIRE, to provide the air traffic manager with the human resources it needs to ensure that air traffic can continue to grow safely and efficiently.

Accordingly, Sánchez announced "it is accepting applications for 90 ENAIRE air traffic controller jobs in coming weeks", adding that this announcement "is on top of all the measures that our companies are going to implement to recover key sectors".

According to the forecasts of EUROCONTROL, the European organisation for air navigation safety, air traffic in Spain will recover faster than expected a year ago, following the crisis in the aeronautical sector prompted by COVID-19. Moreover, forecasts for coming years confirm that traffic will not only recover, but surpass the levels of 2019.

As a result, ENAIRE has resumed its pre-COVID plan to hire new air traffic controllers, and will publish a call for 90 openings in coming weeks, which will be available on its website.

About ENAIRE

ENAIRE is the air navigation service provider in Spain.

As a company of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, it provides en route control services for all flights and overflights from five control centres in Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Gran Canaria and Palma, as well as approach services to every airport in the country.

In addition, 45 control towers receive ENAIRE's communication, navigation and surveillance services, and 21 airports, including the country's busiest, rely on its aerodrome control services.

ENAIRE is the fourth most important European air navigation service provider, and, in a clear commitment to the Single Sky initiative, belongs to international partnerships such as SESAR Joint Undertaking, SESAR Deployment Manager, A6 Alliance, iTEC, CANSO and ICAO.

ENAIRE is the official provider of aeronautical information in Spain.