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CORVERA CONFUSION CONTINUES

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Mark Nolan / 2012-07-06 18:53:39

Secretary of State for Infrastructure and Transport, Rafael Catalá, believes Corvera airport can be operational in the autumn, so long as the current pace of talks continues. Discussions are still ongoing with relation to transferring passenger air traffic from San Javier to Corvera.

Meanwhile, the Spanish airport authority has announced that it is to tender out the operation of the Duty Free stores at airports, with the hope that new private businesses will be able to increase the physical size of the stores as well as provide better management and increased revenue. 

The aim is to increase the revenue for the airport network from 80 outlets in 26 airports to 250 million euro per year, as opposed to the 165 million they currently take. In 2011, the operators themselves took a total of 535 million euro.

The idea is to offer a new opportunity for businesses to run these outlets for a period of seven years, which would see them operating until 31st October, 2020. One of the most confusing elements being that Murcia San Javier airport is also included in the strategy, which would not be a viable option should the airport return to military only use, as would be the plan if Corvera were to become fully operational.

The tender process will begin in December and will be awarded in the first half of January, when the contract is signed. Then, it is expected that in April 2013, before the next summer season, the first units will already be operational. 

The tender process will be split into manageable blocks, the first will include stores in eleven airports (Barajas, Málaga-Costa del Sol, Sevilla, Almería, Jerez y FGL Granada-Jaén, A Coruña, Santiago, Asturias, Bilbao and Santander), the second block will include a further nine airports (El Prat, Reus, Girona-Costa Brava, Palma de Mallorca, Murcia-San Javier, Alicante, Ibiza, Menorca and Valencia), while the third lot will make up the six airports of the Canaries (Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Palma, Lanzarote, Tenerife Norte and Tenerife Sur).

Interested companies may submit their technical and economic offer before 23rd of July, which will be properly evaluated for classification. Those companies that pass this first phase will have until 2nd of November to submit their financial offer.

Currently, the 'Duty Free' network employs 2,000 people, but there will be no obligation for new contractors to maintain these staff members.