The applause following the announcement of a multi-billion investment in the refurbishment of several airports in the Canary Islands has barely died down, and already the first setbacks are emerging: Tenerife South was set to receive the lion’s share of the funding, yet no one is coming forward for the money. The partially privatised airport operator AENA has announced that no construction company has submitted a bid for the contract.
No less than 500 million euros has been earmarked for the project. However, when the deadline expired on 15 September, no one had responded to the call for tenders. This does not mean the refurbishment is off the table, but the already tight schedule certainly is.
Tenerife’s President, Rosa Dávila, expressed her «disappointment» at the setback on Tuesday. She also instructed the operator to investigate the reasons and take appropriate action. And these are considered to be quite straightforward:
Tenerife South: No construction firm accepts AENA’s terms
AENA has recently come under fire from various quarters for what is perceived as greedy behaviour. Not all of these criticisms were always clear to outsiders. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that Ryanair has withdrawn from numerous airports in Spain due to AENA’s price increases. The Canary Islands are also affected by this.
Added to this is criticism from the pandemic period, when business owners accused airport managers of greed: despite the terminals being closed, business owners were expected to pay the full rent whilst generating zero turnover. After several months, some companies were facing the threat of insolvency, but AENA remained unmoved.
Now there is renewed criticism. This time, it concerns the contract for the refurbishment. After all, half a billion euros is at stake. The contract is therefore certainly of interest to major construction firms. However, it is said that either the scale of the refurbishment required is too large, or the contract, worth millions, is too small. The general feeling in business circles is that they are asking for too much for, in turn, too little money.
Politicians are pressing AENA for a swift fix
The refurbishment of the South Airport is by no means off the table. The airport has a backlog of repairs and needs a complete overhaul one way or another. Added to this is the fact that AENA stands to gain many millions of euros in additional revenue once the planned refurbishment has been carried out. This, in turn, is also of interest to politicians, as it promises significant tax revenue. And so, in effect, both parties are in the same boat.
Accordingly, Dávila has now called on AENA manager Javier Marín to give his assurance that the changes required for the refurbishment to begin will be made without delay. However, the deputy managing director cannot approve this on his own, so the first step is to hold discussions at the company’s headquarters in Madrid.
Dávila’s demand that none of this should cause «delays to the planned works» is already considered unrealistic. There was also clear criticism: Tenerife’s president spoke of a «tender process that is essentially focused on price», which «in our view is not the most appropriate». Rather, with such a complex construction project – which is, after all, set to span eight years – the focus must be on the objective.
AENA would need to invest more money in the refurbishment on Tenerife
Lope Afonso, the Vice-President responsible for tourism, struck a similar note: as «critical infrastructure», airports must be kept in the best possible condition. Added to this are requirements for «a design that reflects current trends», particularly given the consistently «high passenger volumes» at Tenerife.
Above all, AENA would need to make more money available for all of this. In the past, however, the operator has tended to stand out for taking significant measures to maximise profits. Voluntarily making greater investments available for the refurbishment – even if the money invested can be recouped within a few years – has not been part of the company’s approach in the years since the economic crisis. And so, with the unilateral announcement from Santa Cruz, the final word on the refurbishment of Reina Sofia Airport in Tenerife South has by no means been said.
«Tenerife South Airport's 500 Millionen revamp has no takers»
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