He president Aragones does not want to end the mandate without specifying a proposal that enhances the airport of Barcelona, sixth airport in Europe in number of travelers and with a growing demand for transatlantic flights. You just have to remember that the destination that has multiplied the demand the most is JFK in New York. More than 600%, up to half a million travelers.
The idea that Aragonès uses is far from the one he bought quickly and without blinking his former vice president Puigneró. He returned to Barcelona blessing – at his own risk and expense – Lucena’s (Aena) proposal as if the latter were Mr. Marshall.
The one in Lucena was an Aena project that it evaporated suddenly, almost as much as the presence of counselor Puigneró, who after that slip was losing authority in the Executive in favor of Jaume Giró, more cautious and less inclined to be seduced by siren songs.
Aena intended to lengthen the sea runway by about 500 meters and pass over a natural area protected by the EU, the Ricarda. A half-solution, as well as controversial. Because it fell short in relation to the underused mountain track, the longest of the three that the Prat has.
The experts who advise the Aragonès executive propose optimizing the use of the mountain slope when it is essential. And in the direction of Free Zone to minimize the inconvenience to the neighbors. Above all, when it comes to takeoffs, which is when planes need more runway.
The other proposal proposed by the Aragonès Executive to improve the Prat is a new terminal, budgeted a thousand times and never realized. It’s about the T1S which should have been active since 2012. But today it remains fallow. The T1S would increase the annual passenger ceiling for El Prat by 15 million. Today estimated at 55. A figure that has never been exceeded. The peak moment was in 2019, with 52.7 million, far from the 42 million in 2022. Although it is believed that the pre-pandemic figures. In Palau they want Aena to get its act together with T1S and fear that the new Executive could be a pretext to continue delaying its construction. That’s why the ‘counsellor’ Ester Capella On November 5, she sent a letter to her ministerial counterpart, the Catalan Raquel Sánchez, responsible for Transport, today already replaced by Óscar Puente from Valladolid in the new Executive of Pedro Sánchez.
In the letter, Capella proposes agreeing on a bilateral commission to agree on a proposal (remember that the previous one was unilateral) and expedite its execution. That is why Capella also calls for an urgent meeting to unclog an issue that has a tail and that confronts the various institutions (Aena, Generalitat and city councils) and that also has detractors and supporters of the enlargement, a term that in the letter sent to Madrid signed by Capella they are very careful not to use. Instead there is talk of modernization and the complexity of the matter is highlighted due to the particular location of the Catalan airport.
El Prat is surrounded by the Llobregat Delta, coastal urbanizations, the Parc Agrari and a characteristic orography, the proximity of mountains and the sea.
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The main destination airport for El Prat is Palma, followed by Barajas. But today its deficit is considered to be in the Pacific, where emerging economies are located. In fact, therein lies the problem. The planes for these routes are much larger and require more meters of runway to take off.
Besides of JFK, the flights of long distance destinations such as Tel Aviv, more than 500% in 2022. OR Bogota, a 250. They also stand out Dubai and Qatar. And in Europe London, Dublin, Porto and Istanbul have skyrocketed, although the latter is considered an Asian destination. The demand for new flights will materialize at the end of March 2024 when flights should operate to Miami, Dallas and Hong Kong.