Madrid is the only capital in Europe with a single airport. And, of course, it stays small. That, at least, is what the promoters of Air City Madrid Surthe project that has been trying to carry out a new airport for the city for almost a decade. After years without progress, ambitions have been lowered.
But they have an ace up their sleeve: low-cost companies.
What is happening? Air City Madrid Sur is a project that has been known for almost a decade. Its promoters want to convert the Casarrubios aerodrome, which currently mainly relies on private flights and aerial formations, into a commercial airport that offers an alternative to the current Madrid-Barajas.
According to their accountsMadrid’s only airport serves almost 10 million people if we take into account the metropolitan area of Madrid and the potential users who arrive attracted from nearby areas because either they do not have an airport nearby or those commercial routes are not offered.
The intention is to offer this second airport as a relief space for commercial and freight aviation, taking advantage of a situation that they consider key: barely 30 kilometers from Madrid but with a clear exit to the southern area.
Pulling Ryanair. The project to convert this aerodrome into an airport has once again hit the media this week because Eddie Wilson, CEO of Ryanair, dedicated a few words to it during the Madrid New Economy Forum. And Javier Ruedas, CEO of the company promoting the expansion, took advantage of the moment to ask Wilson about the project.
He confirmed that he did not have much knowledge about it but that they were always in favor of competing with Aena to reduce airport taxes. And the latter is what the promoters of the project use to move it forward.
Decrease to grow. When the project was first presented, the ambitions were very high. Specifically, they wanted to convert Casarrubios into an airport with the capacity to move ten million passengers. However, with this proposal blocked for years, Air City Madrid Sur has sought this alternative route.
This path is explained from Five Days, It means getting smaller. Specifically, they want the now airfield to be able to move up to one million passengers a year. This may seem like a step backwards but it allows them to look for an alternative manager to Aena (airports with greater capacity must necessarily operate with the public company).
What they would achieve with this is to attract low-cost airlines that want to operate in Madrid at a lower price. Hence, Wilson, although he acknowledged not having much knowledge on the subject, did support the initiative.
The changes. Right now, the airport has 400,000 square meters of land right on the border between Madrid and Toledo. Of them, 30,000 square meters are occupied by hangars. The only runway now measures 1,000 meters.
What is wanted with the project is to expand said runway to 1,800 meters and build a second runway of 3,200 meters that will allow larger flights to operate. Likewise, they want to build a terminal for commercial flight passengers and two other terminals for private flight users.
What does it have going for it? What the development company defends is that traffic in Madrid-Barajas is constantly increasing and that by 2032 the maximum capacity of the airport will have been reached. The expansion expected at this airport “it will only last for one or two years,” they say in words collected by The Talavera Tribune.
In addition, the now aerodrome has a very good exit to the A-5, a road on which traffic moves to the southwest of the Peninsula. This is excellent news for the transport of goods since you would not have to cross Madrid to take this route.
But, in addition, the situation 30 kilometers from Madrid seems especially good for low-cost companies. It is common for these companies to operate in airports somewhat far from the city where they can offer cheaper flights. Not being managed by Aena, as is the case in Lleida or Andorra–La Seu d’Urgell, can be seen by some companies as a strength.
What does it have against it? The connection with Madrid for commercial flights is really bad. There is no nearby train that connects to the city center quickly and that makes it much less attractive for tourism.
In addition, Aena has repeatedly defended that Madrid does not need a second airport, so the ambitions to grow are more complicated considering that a large part of the project is based on the decisions to be made by the ministries involved. Of course, the Community of Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha have always been favorable to the project.
Photo | Air City Madrid Sur and Artur Tumasjan
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