Press statement regarding the incorporation of an amendment to the text
of the Sustainable Mobility Bill
breadcrumb-header
Regarding the incorporation of an amendment, at the proposal of the Grupo Parlamentario Popular, to the text of the Sustainable Mobility Bill which has been approved in the Senate today for its return to the Congress of Deputies, and as reported today by Aena in “Other Relevant Information” (registry 37567) published by the Company on the website of the National Securities Market Commission ("CNMV"), the Company provides the following reflections:
• Since the entry into force of Act 18/2014 and the IPO of Aena in 2015, tourism and airtransport in Spain have experienced a boom of major proportions, which has been anessential factor in the admirable growth of the Spanish economy over the last decade.Without the good functioning of Spanish airports and Aena, this simply would not havebeen possible.
• It is worth noting the singular legislative technique of the amendment proposed by theGrupo Parlamentario Popular which, due to its foggy grammar and wording, inducesconfusion as to its exact interpretation and scope. As matter of fact, the amendment raisesdoubts about how it would fit within the applicable legal and constitutional framework intwo important aspects. The first is its substantive content, which is hardly compatible andconsistent with the legal provisions that regulate in detail investments in Aena's generalinterest airports in order to ensure their proper functioning, through a system based oncost recovery, which cannot be reconciled with an arbitrary "freezing" of airport charges.The second aspect is that the technical wording of the text of the amendment could beimproved, which, as it stands, could lead to open legal uncertainty regarding theapplication of its provisions in the airport sector.
• The PP is responsible for the current regulatory framework of the Spanish airport systemand the Aena business model, both of which are an unqualified success, and it is only fairto acknowledge this. For this reason, it is incongruous that it is precisely this same politicalparty that is promoting the distortion of the economic-financial coherence of Act 18/2014and, therefore, the revision of the investment plan foreseen for Spanish airports in thecoming years.
• The contrast between the significant increase in air fares between summer 2022 andsummer 2025 (28% for domestic flights and 9% for international flights) and the increasein airport charges over the same period (4.6%) demonstrate that there is no statisticallysignificant correlation between ticket prices and Aena charges. This is due to the fact thatairport charges represent a small percentage of the price of an airline ticket - that of a"package tour" is even smaller - and therefore changes in charges have a very smallimpact on passengers' decision to fly.
• The increase in Aena's airport charges has been legally limited to ten years because nomajor investments in Spanish airports have been required during this period. But nowmore capacity is needed in order to accommodate future air demand and to not bottleneck growth, as well as to improve the physical security and cybersecurity of these critical transport infrastructures.
• The regulatory framework of the airport system and the business model of Aena, whichdate back to 2014 and 2015, respectively, were a success of the PP. Thanks, among otherfactors, to this success of a decade ago, Aena is a benchmark company in the worldtoday: operationally, it is capable of managing record volumes of traffic with high levels ofquality and efficiency; and entrepreneurially, it is a world leader listed on the stockexchange and in which countless customers and shareholders have placed their trust,receiving appreciable dividends every year. The attempt to arbitrarily change thetransparent rules of the game in such an important and well-functioning regulated sectorof the Spanish economy is therefore disconcerting.
• If the amendment were to succeed and the Spanish Parliament were to limit by law theremuneration of Aena's aeronautical activity without any rational economic argument, thedamage to the Spanish airport system, as well as to Aena and its shareholders could beconsiderable; and the company would have to revisit planned investments in Spanishairports in the coming years, which could negatively affect most of Spain's regions thathost these infrastructures.
• From a perspective of the general interest, this legislative proposal should lead to gravereflection. No political disagreement could excuse such unfounded and collateral damageto the proper functioning of Spanish airports. Given the significant financial size of Aena,the possible distress caused to Spanish and international investors who have entrustedtheir money to Aena for a decade thanks to the original commitment of a solid, stable andpredictable regulatory framework in 2014 would be even more inexcusable.
• Ultimately, Aena's obligation is, with the utmost democratic respect for popularsovereignty and the Spanish Parliament, to warn that the amendment would introduceregulatory and legal uncertainty in the Spanish economy, and its toxic effects on Aenacould reverberate in the international financial community, as well as tarnish Spain's goodimage and proven economic seriousness.
