ARCHIVED - Corvera airport management contract awarded to Aena

The new airport of the Region of Murcia could theoretically be open before the end of 2018

This Wednesday the regional government gave its approval to the awarding of the new management contract at the unopened airport in Corvera to Aena, after the financial and economic details of the company’s bid proved acceptable to the committee assessing the documentation submitted.

Eventually the Aena bid for the 25-year contract was the only one submitted in the second phase of the adjudication process, following the failure to submit a rival bid by Edeis at the end of October. Edeis currently manages the airport of Castellón, in the north of the Comunidad Valenciana, while Aena is in charge at all 46 of the other operational facilities in Spain.

Now that the government’s objective of awarding the new management contract at Corvera before the end of 2017 has been achieved, and given Aena’s vast experience in dealing with the permits needed to make airports fully operational, it is now theoretically feasible for the airport to be up and running before the end of 2018.

However, this will depend on the relevant authorizations being granted by the State air safety agency Aesa, a procedure which can only be completed twice a year. For this reason the regional government is anxious to ensure that the first of those opportunities is seized, and that all of the necessary authorizations are in place before next summer.

It is now almost six years since construction was completed at Corvera under the management of Aeromur, whose contract was rescinded by the Murcia government when the deadline for making the airport operational was not met. But the history of the airport goes back a lot further, and indeed it was declared to be a priority project of general interest by the national government as long ago as 2003, when the intention was for it to be managed by Aena.

Now, almost 15 years later, this has finally happened, apparently bringing to an end a series of disagreements and legal arguments which have at times seemed interminable, and for the first time in Spain Aena will be managing an airport not as its owner but as a concessionaire.

Good news, then, for those who are keen for the airport in Corvera to open, although expats and visitors with homes near the Mar Menor may find it hard to accept that almost inevitably the process of transferring air traffic from the existing airport of Murcia-San Javier will begin before too long. This will eventually lead to the return of the facilities on the shore of the Mar Menor to exclusively military use, although there are various obstacles to overcome before that happens, including details of Aena staff relocations and those of the ancillary service companies which currently operate at San Javier.

Further details will doubtless become clear over the coming months…

Image: Aena and Edeis officials inspect the facilities at Corvera airport in September

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