The Chairman and CEO of Aena, Maurici Lucena, today maintained the forecast of traffic growth in airports in Spain in 2025 at 3.4%, up to approximately 320 million passengers. Lucena acknowledged “the enormous current difficulty of modelling future economic scenarios and assigning probabilities to them”, but stated that Aena's forecast is based on all available information and airlines' slot bookings for the summer season finishing at the end of October. The chairman added that “the traffic forecast is underpinned in its original preparation by supply constraints such as the delay in the delivery of new aircraft for their fleets”.
This growth forecast adds to the all-time traffic records of recent years: in 2024 the airports of the Aena Group (the 46 airports and 2 heliports in Spain, London Luton Airport and the 17 airports in Brazil) served almost 370 million passengers, which means that, on average, more than one million travellers passed through the airports managed by Aena every day.
Aena's total number of passengers rises to 440 million if the company's minority shareholdings in 12 airports in Mexico, 2 in Jamaica and 1 in Colombia are taken into account.
Dividend of 9.76 euros per share and share split
Aena’s financial results from airport activity in 2024 set new all-time records in terms of net profit and EBITDA, as well as the company’s revenue, as highlighted by the chairman. Consolidated net profit amounted to €1,934.2m, 18.6% more than in the previous year. Similarly, EBITDA reached €3,510.3m, while total consolidated revenue amounted to €5,827.8m.
The 2024 results have led to the highest ever shareholder remuneration in the company's history. The General Shareholders' Meeting approved a gross dividend of €9.76 per share, an increase of 27.4% on the previous year, further highlighting Aena's stock market competitiveness, with 2025 marking ten years since its IPO.
In these terms, and as a result of the strong appreciation in the share price, a share split has been approved as from May, at a ratio of 10 new shares for each existing share, and a reduction in the par value of each share from 10 euros to 1 euro. The company aims, among other objectives, to progressively increase the relative weight of Aena's retail shareholders.
Success of a network model equipped to handle a historic wave of investment
Lucena defended Aena's network model “in light of the results of the last decade” based on the volume of air traffic managed, the quality of airport services, the improvement and expansion of airport infrastructures, efficiency, decarbonisation of operations, low airport charges and business performance. “The conclusion is that the Spanish airport system and Aena work well, or rather, very well,” he concluded.
In this regard, he added, the “‘economic principle of solidarity’ is inherent to the network model and allows individually loss-making airports to remain open and in optimal condition to fly, without any financial contribution from Spanish taxpayers”.
Lucena explained that the unexpected increase in traffic in recent years has placed many Aena airports close to their maximum capacity, mainly the hub airports and large tourist airports. In this regard, Aena has identified expansion needs at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, Tenerife Norte-Ciudad de La Laguna, Tenerife Sur, César Manrique-Lanzarote, Valencia and Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández airports, among others, and is working well in advance on large and complex expansion projects.
In addition, all airports will receive the necessary investments to comply with regulatory requirements and those that Aena voluntarily imposes on itself in terms of safety, quality and the environment.
Aena is making thorough preparations to effectively manage a strong wave of investment, comparable only to that of the 2000s, and is currently immersed in the proposal for the third DORA 2027-2031. The consultation process with airlines will take place towards the end of 2025 and the final proposal will be submitted to the Directorate-General for Civil Aviation in early 2026. The final document will be approved in the second half of 2026 by the Council of Ministers.
On the international front, last week the UK government announced the approval of the application to expand London Luton Airport from a current capacity of 19 to 32 million passengers per year. The chairman and CEO of Aena explained that Aena, whose concession expires in 2032, wants to play a leading role in this expansion and to do so must reach an agreement with Luton Borough Council, the airport's owner.
In the case of Brazil, in the last quarter of 2024, Aena awarded the contracts for the mandatory investments of the eleven BOAB airports. Among them is the complex expansion of Congonhas Airport, in the heart of São Paulo, which will be the most significant project outside Spain in Aena's history.
In 2024, Aena Brasil celebrated its fifth anniversary. In this five-year period, Aena has completed the ambitious works plan for the Airports of Northeast Brazil (ANB) on time and on budget. In total, Aena will invest around 6.4 billion Brazilian reals in the 17 airports it manages in Brazil.
Endorsement of the net-zero pathway: Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)
At this Shareholders' Meeting, Aena approved the updated report on the Climate Action Plan (CAP) for 2024, which includes the actions carried out during the past year within the framework of the 2021-2030 Climate Action Plan. The company reports to its shareholders on environmental issues every year, having become the first Spanish company and one of the first in the world to vote on this issue.
Among the main milestones achieved is Aena’s adherence to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a validation system for short- and long-term emission reduction targets based on the “state of the art” in climate science.
Aena continues to exceed its own emission reduction target, with a total decrease of 70% compared with 2019, avoiding the need for any offsetting of emissions. Natural gas consumption has also been reduced by 40% compared with 2019 thanks to aerothermal energy and the purchase of biofuels.
As for the photovoltaic plan, Aena currently has ten airports with guaranteed access and connection rights that will, by 2029, supply 51% of energy consumption based on 2019 figures.
Appointments
Regarding the composition of the Board of Directors, the Shareholders' Meeting certified the voluntary departure of Irene Cano. Ramon Tremosa i Balcells, an economist with a background in finance, international trade and transport, will take her place as an independent director. The reappointment of Javier Marín, Juan Río, Jaime Terceiro and Amancio López was approved for the statutory term of four years, the latter two as independent directors.
