airport

build a second airport for the city

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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 In Xataka | Ryanair seemed to have condemned Santiago airport with its departure. Solution: flights to New York

Ryanair seemed to have condemned Santiago airport with its departure. Solution: flights to New York

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The year 2025 was marked by the withdrawal of Ryanair aircraft from Spanish regional airports. The company, complaining about the supposedly excessive rates charged by Aena, eliminated routes and reduced frequencies. The result has been a huge decline at some of these airports. One of them is Santiago de Compostela. But the Galicians are already looking beyond the Atlantic. The withdrawal. A few months ago we said that Galicia is the Autonomous Community that has lost the most passengers since Ryanair reduced frequencies and canceled routes at Spanish regional airports. During the first quarter of the year, only the A Coruña airport grew within the region. Activity in Vigo fell slightly, with 3.4% fewer passengers. But it was the march from Santiago de Compostela that did the most damage. Compared to two years ago, the company’s activity is 80% lower and passenger volume has plummeted. In the first quarter, Aena data They say traffic was down by almost 25%. It is an important figure but it is serious because last year it already fell another 14% in that same period. And the decline has been consolidated in the first half of the year, sinking its activity by 40%, they report in Preferential. a nuance. It must be taken into account that in the first half of the year, Aena has been carrying out improvement work on the asphalt of the runways at the Santiago de Compostela airport, so activity has been stopped for just over a month on alternate days from January to May. An unexpected solution. The curious thing is that the drop in traffic has eased in recent months. The connections that Ryanair used at this airport maintained routes between Seville and Valencia with Galicia. A solution that, despite the improvement in rail trafficit’s still much faster. But they explain in The Spanish that from Santiago de Compostela they hope to alleviate part of the fall with two new connections. One of them to Amsterdam, the other to New York/Newark airport. And it is that United Airlines already operates a line with three weekly frequencies to connect the two sides of the Atlantic. Beyond Spain. Since Ryanair turned its back on the airport, the number of international destinations has been growing. The first city with a direct connection to join this new stage was Marrakech, they explain in The Galician Post. The offer is expanded with Amsterdam or Cork, in Ireland. All of these routes are operated on alternate days but enhance the international image of the airport for routes that, previously, had to go to other autonomous communities. Covering gaps. Another piece of good news for Santiago de Compostela is the connection with Jerez thanks to Vueling. At least during the summer, activity has been increasing in both national destinations (Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Barcelona or Bilbao) and international destinations (London, Paris or Dublin). Those gaps that Ryanair has been leaving are being absorbed, at least partially with an increase in frequencies, by rival companies. And the Irish company has lost ground to Vueling and Wizz Air in recent times. Although they maintain almost record numbers, its market share has sufferedagainst these latter companies. Photo | Nastya Dulhiier and Trevor Hayes In Xataka | The new EU border system is leaving people without flights. Ryanair has a solution: close check-in early

This is one of the best ways to quickly find your suitcase at the airport

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We may have the idea of ​​placing some tape, sticker or distinctive seal on the suitcase so that it can be recognized and located when we go plane tripbut it is not the most recommended. In fact, airport employees advise against it. Because? Basically these stickers, tapes, rubber bands or keychains can cover the stickers provided by airports to identify each suitcase with its respective user. If these stickers are covered, suitcases can get lost. But then, how can we find or locate the suitcase quickly? Nowadays there are accessories that are quite useful for these situations, and the locators They are the most interesting. They allow you to have the suitcase located without having to put a sticker on it. In addition, there are many sizes and formats. Let’s review some of the most interesting ones. AirTag 2 by 27.99 eurosa locator for iPhone users. Xiaomi Tag by 12.31 eurosone of the best AirTag alternatives for iPhone and Android phones. Motorola Tag by 24.90 eurosa locator for Android with the same format as the AirTag. Ugreen FineTrack Slim Smart Finder by 23.99 eurosa locator for Android with a card design. Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 by 19 eurosa locator for Samsung mobile phones. Ugreen FineTrack Slim Smart Finder The price could vary. We earn commission from these links AirTag 2 He AirTag 2 (27.99 euros) is the locator par excellence for Apple devices. This second generation has improved in search precisionoffers a fairly loud sound to locate it and works with a CR2032 battery, so as soon as it runs out it can be easily replaced. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Xiaomi Tag He Xiaomi Tag (12.31 euros) is one of the best alternatives to the AirTag 2, although in this case works with both iPhone and Android phones. It also works with a CR2032 battery, its autonomy is up to one year and thanks to its design it can be attached to a keychain. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Motorola Tag If we find the design of the AirTag 2 attractive, but we have an Android mobile, the Motorola Tag (24.90 euros) is one of the best options currently. It includes a physical button with which you can take photographs from your mobile phone and has ultra-wide band (UWB), although it is not compatible with all mobile phones. The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Ugreen FineTrack Slim Smart Finder There are also locators that have very different designs from Apple, and Ugreen is the best brand to talk about it. Among the many models in its catalogue, the FineTrack Slim Smart Finder (23.99 euros) stands out for its card-shaped design, so being quite flat it can be stored in many places. It is water and dust resistant, its battery lasts up to five years and it works only with Android. Ugreen FineTrack Slim Smart Finder The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 Lastly, we also have the Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 (19 euros), a locator compatible with pinpoint search (UWB), although Only works with Samsung phones. It includes a physical button to control the home automation system and includes a hole to hang it on a keychain. Samsung Galaxy SmartTag 2 The price could vary. We earn commission from these links Some of the links in this article are affiliated and may provide a benefit to Xataka. In case of non-availability, offers may vary. Images | Dimitri Karastelev in Unsplash and rawpixel in Magnificent (header), Apple, Xiaomi, Motorola, Ugreen, Samsung In Xataka | Buying guide for GPS locators: tips and recommendations to get it right and seven models from 30 euros In Xataka | Six gadgets that I never thought I would need and that have improved my daily life by 1000%

“Airport fees should be reduced”

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“They should be reduced.” Two words summarize the CNMC’s position regarding the strategy that Aena must apply in relation to airport taxes. The semi-state company wants to apply a 3.82% increase in the rates that airlines pay in our country for each of the passengers who board their planes. And that is a reason for obvious conflict with the companies. And especially with Ryanair. What does the CNMC say? That the 3.82% increase that Aena has proposed for the period 2027-2031 is not the best idea. In a report titled lCNMC concludes that airport fees should be reduced between 2027-2031the body in charge of ensuring free competition in the Spanish market has a clear position. According to the report, it is not only recommended to eliminate this increase, it is also recommended to lower rates by 0.59%. This would help: Increase traffic from the 1.3% calculated by Aena to the 2.2% calculated by the CNMC that will be achieved with this rate reduction. It would go from the 346.7 million passengers expected by Aena to the 366.7 million calculated by the CNMC. Reduce operating expenses by 741.5 million euros considering that the increase expected by the CNMC is much higher than that of estimated passengers. According to the agency, this indicates an operational inefficiency. Why does the CNMC say this?. This response from Aena is part of the procedure that must be followed for the approval of the Airport Regulation Document corresponding to the period 2027-2031 (DORA III), which should be approved before September 30, 2026. He Ministry of Transport refers to this document as: “The basic instrument for defining the minimum conditions necessary to guarantee the accessibility, sufficiency and suitability of the airport infrastructure and the adequate provision of the basic airport services of the Aena airport network” To finish deciding what to do with airport taxes for the 2027-2031 time frame, the General Directorate of Civil Aviation of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has requested a report from Competition to provide a second opinion on the numbers presented by Aena. This step is mandatory. Aena’s proposal before the CNMC. To understand why Aena proposes an increase in airport taxes, you have to understand some key points of your proposal. The company, halfway between state and private, proposes the following: Personnel expenses will increase by 16.7% between the period 2027 to 2031 and 37.1% compared to the numbers closed in 2025. Operating expenses (maintenance, cleaning, security or energy, among others) will increase by 18.3% in 2027-2031, which represents an increase of 49.4% compared to 2025 numbers. Taking 2024 as a reference, the expenses that will increase the most once the period ends in 2031 will be: security (84.8%), maintenance (102.3%) and operational and labor services (77.5%). These data, according to the CNMC, are not realistic and exemplify problems of productive inefficiency. According to his calculations: Operating expenses would grow four times more than the expected increase in traffic. According to Competition calculations, for every 1% growth in traffic in Spain there would be a 3.3% growth in operating expenses. The CNMC defends that taking into account economies of scale, with its proposal Aena would be saving 741.5 million euros in operating expenses between the years 2027 and 2031 despite lowering rates since this would increase traffic. The airlines. What the airlines propose It is, evidently, a reduction in airport taxes. Specifically 4.9%. The figure, they say, would not put at risk the investment plan that Aena has already announced for the coming years and for which it estimates that it will be necessary to spend 10,000 million euros. They defend that a drop in rates would increase traffic and give as an example the period 2017-2025 in which the number of passengers increased by 15.3% compared to the airport manager’s forecasts. If so, they consider that traffic would grow by 3.6%. Halfway. That is, the CNMC proposal is halfway there. Competition believes that passenger growth in 2027-2031 will be 2.2%, while Aena estimates 1.3% and airlines advance 3.6%. Furthermore, he believes that rates should go down but only by 0.59%, far from the 3.82% increase proposed by Aena and just as far from the 4.9% reduction proposed by the airlines. Why is it important? Airport taxes are being the great battle between Aena and the airlines. Of all of them, Ryanair has undoubtedly been the most critical of the airport manager’s decisions, threatening to reduce traffic in smaller airports considering that prices are abusive. In some it has already done so. At these airports, Aena has bonuses to attract travelers and make airlines pay less money. For its part, Aena has confronted the Irish company (the one that moves the most traffic in Spain) and has made it clear that it will not give in to what they consider blackmail. In fact, Maurici Lucena, president of Ryanair, stated yesterday that with this company’s position “the debate on airport charges will be endless” and defended that “Aena’s rates are the lowest in Europe”, in statements reported by The Newspaper. For now, it will be necessary to wait to confirm whether rates end up rising or, as the CNMC and the airlines prefer, end up being reduced. We should know by September 30, 2026. Photo | Wikimedia and Wolfgang Weiser In Xataka | After leaving many Spanish airports without service, Ryanair has made another decision: to raise its prices by 9%

35 billion dollars to build the largest airport in the world

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95,192,160 passengers. This is the number of travelers who registered at Dubai International Airport (DXB) in 2025, according to data from Airports Council International (ACI). A figure that elevated it to second place in the world for passenger traffic, only behind Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in the United States. This last location has been repeating for three years asThe busiest airport in the world and last year it moved 10 million more passengers than Dubai, breaking the barrier of 106 million passengers in a single year. A figure that, year after year, Dubai wants to reduce to become the airport with the highest passenger traffic in the world. And it has a $35 billion plan to achieve it. An airport like no one ever conceived As we said, so far Dubai has remained below 100 million passengers per year. However, the ambition is to break this barrier in just two years. Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, assured Time Out that they aspired to break this ceiling soon and that by 2031 they want to reach 113 million passengers. These figures would predictably make them the busiest airport in the world but it has a problem: the current Dubai International Airport (DXB) and remodeling it would cost as much money who, directly, prefer to get a new one. At least that is what they maintain from the Emirate. And in 2010 the Al Maktoum International Airporta space that until now has operated at half throttle and is a ridiculous size compared to its Dubai brother. But in 2024 an expansion was approved to position it as the largest airport in the world with the capacity to handle 260 million passengers in a single year. That is, almost the same passengers as the three busiest airports in the world right now: adding Haneda in Tokyo (third in the world) to those mentioned in Atlanta and Dubai. According to the voices that have defended the project, the problem is that the current airport is so large that maintenance work drives up costs and, they say, it is cheaper to build a gigantic expansion of the current Al Maktoum International Airport than to renovate the famous Dubai International Airport. For this, it has been planned to invest 35,000 million euros to make the current Al Maktoum International Airport the center of the Dubai World Central (DWC), the most ambitious mobility hub in the world. This space has been planned as a megacity with residential spaces, hotels, golf courses… and, above all, the largest airport in the world built by man in its history. Specifically, has been projected that the renovation of the new airport costs $34.85 billion. This figure reflects the ambitions to multiply the size of the DBX by five, building five 4.5 kilometer long landing strips separated by 800 meters. It will have four main concourses and more than 400 doors to operate flights. The intention is that, operationally, the new airport will be operating at higher performance by the end of the decade to make the complete move from the current DBX to the renovated Al Maktoum International Airport in 2032. That year they hope to manage the traffic of 150 million passengers in one year. That is, about 44 million more passengers than the current Atlanta airport, the busiest in the world, handles. These passengers will be distributed across three terminals. The intention is that one of them is dedicated solely to the operations of the Emirates Group and another to international flights. The third will concentrate low-cost flights. In addition, a parking lot with 100,000 spaces is planned for workers only. The intention is to build a high-speed train between both airspaces but to transfer the bulk of the operations to the new construction. Of course, its surroundings and all its services are not expected to be built until 2050. By then, Dubai intends to be able to operate flights with the capacity to move up to 260 million passengers. That is, it should be able to manage half the population of the European Union in a single year. To consolidate this mega-move, the Dubai airport is already working with new biometric recognition and baggage management systems using artificial intelligence as a test before the airlines arrive at the new space. Obviously, the intention is scale operations to mitigate the risk of collapse. Consolidation as the largest mobility hub in the world is not only understood with commercial flights. Dubai wants this new space to be the best place in the world for landing flights. Airbus A380the largest passenger plane in the world, but also the best place to carry out your maintenance and repair work. Likewise, it wants to consolidate itself as a key place for the transportation of goods and have restricted space for the landing and takeoff of private flights to which it will be offered all kinds of luxuries with a huge range of auxiliary services such as the aforementioned hotels, shopping centers and leisure spaces. Photo | DWC and Adam Khan In Xataka | European airlines are taking advantage of the Iran crisis to accelerate something old: making your trip even more complicated.

the day Naples rejected a Boeing 787 with 200 people on board because it would not enter the airport

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It hasn’t been long since dawn and the passengers are stretching one day in June 2025 thousands of meters above sea level. They left Philadelphia last night and are about to land in Naples. They are about to discover that, whether they slept better or worse, they are going to have a bad awakening. And when they approach eight hours into the trip and already see the Italian coast on the screens in their seats, a voice informs them that they will not land in Naples. There is not much to fear, everything is in order. All. Except for a small bureaucratic error that is currently diverting them to Rome. They will probably find out about that later. All they know is that their flight from Philadelphia to Naples has had to be diverted. And this time it was not due to a breakdown, a storm or a health emergency. The reason is simple: the plane is too big to land in Naples. Two meters, specifically. Two meters that no one noticed The Philadelphia-Naples route operated by American Airlines is a very good option if you want to travel from the United States to Italy and do not have the need to go through the large airports of New York or Rome. It also has the advantage that it flies at night, which makes it easier to deal with jet lag. Encouragement that, surely, was appreciated by the 231 passengers who had to travel on a Boeing 787-8, according to C.B.S.. However, that day, the airline could have put someone else on board. And, for operational reasons, American Airlines used a Boeing 787-9 On that trip June 3, 2025, a plane slightly larger and with greater capacity than usual on a route that It has been operating since 2024. The aircraft are almost carbon copies. Of course, a Boeing 787-8 measures 57 meters long but the 787-9 already extends to 63 meters long. A difference that has implications beyond the number of passengers. And, according to air safety regulations, a Boeing 787-8 can land in RFFS Category 8 airports (Rescue and Fire Fighting Services) or higher. But a Boeing 787-9 does not have it so easy, it needs to do it at airports in Category 9 RFFS. The difference is small but it is substantial. A Category 8 RFFS airport can accommodate aircraft up to 61 meters long. Yes, two meters shorter than the Boeing 787-9. And you can imagine what category Naples airport has. Indeed, about 70 miles awaythe American Airlines flight asks for a runway in Naples but from the control tower someone realizes the problem: the aircraft is not the same as always. For logistical reasons, the airline was using this second, larger version of the Boeing 787 and therefore exceeded the maximum permitted limit of 61 meters. No one in the company updated the documentation or notified of the change. Technically the problem is not in the size of the trackthe problem is in the security measures. And Naples is not prepared to deal with a possible incident involving a plane of this size. Airport categories are not only classified based on the size of the runway, but also take into account their ability to accommodate emergency and firefighting services. From the control tower they see it clearly, there is no choice but to warn the pilots: they must land in Roma Fuimicino. The capital’s airport is the closest airfield where flights the size of a Boeing 787-9 can land and is therefore where the passengers were ultimately taken. From there, they were finally transferred by bus to Naples, a trip that takes between two and three hours. A lesser evil for a problem that would have been much more serious if the aircraft had had a problem when landing. Photo | Dominic Bieri and Flightware In Xataka | The inevitable increase in air travel is leading us to a reality: there are no places, no planes, no planet for so many tourists.

when Istanbul moved 45,000 tons from its old airport in less than 45 hours

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Modern aviation is not only measured in knots or altitudes, but also in the ability of airports to process huge flows of people or cargo on a continuous basis. But there is an unwanted scenario that could occur: that the airport is not enough. When it collapses, it dies of success and serious logistical measures have to be taken. This is what happened in Istanbul: the need to expand the old Atatürk airport encountered an insurmountable barrier in the form of urban geography. For great evils, great remedies: they had to move the entire airport while international aviation and the country’s logistics continued their course. The event is known as “The Great Move“and constitutes the largest move in civil aviation. In less than 45 hours the center of gravity of air transport in the region moved 42 kilometers north, to the new Istanbul Airport (IST), with all that this entails. The move. In aviation, this operational transfer program is known as ORAT (Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer) and it goes without saying that this move was not spontaneous, but rather the opposite: it took two years of meticulous preparation in which they trained 33,000 airport staff and carried out two large-scale drills to detect potential problems. It all started immediately after the opening of the new airport in October 2018 and the final phase (that move), was executed in a continuous 45-hour window between April 5 and 6, 2019 to move more than 10,000 pieces of equipment with a total weight of 47,300 tons. In fact, it was even better: they did it in much less time. Why is it important. If a move has its ins and outs per se, for an airport the problems and the need to execute it without errors multiply as long as it is a living infrastructure with interdependent systems such as fuel, air traffic control, security, IT, passengers and luggage. Disconnecting, transporting and reconnecting everything without collapsing the air traffic of one of the busiest cities in the world is a high-flying engineering challenge. “The Great Move” showed that a world-class hub is possible without a prolonged dual transition, minimizing the operational risk of managing two airports simultaneously. Finally, the movement consolidated Istanbul as a great connection point between Europe and Asia, rivaling others in the Middle East such as Doha or Dubai. Without this move, Turkish Airlines’ growth would likely have been stagnant due to the physical limitations of the old airport. Context. In 2017, Atatürk Airport was the fifth busiest in Europe, behind Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle, Frankfurt and Amsterdam. Without going any further, in 2018 served to almost 70 million passengers, making it the tenth busiest on the planet. But it was limited: it was surrounded by the city on three sides and by the Sea of ​​Marmara on the fourth, so expansion was physically impossible. The secondary airport of Sabiha Gökçen It had also reached its maximum capacity. The lack of space was so critical that it prevented the Airbus A380 from operating, making Atatürk the only major airport in Europe and the Middle East unable to receive such aircraft. So in 2013 they made the decision. The flight that brought down the curtain on Atatürk was Turkish Airlines TK54: it took off on April 6, 2019 at 02:44 to Singapore. In figures. Although there are slight variations in sources directly involved such as Turkish Airlines or the documentary he recorded of the process by the airport operator with the collaboration of National Geographic, are minor and do not detract from the colossal nature of the operation: A planned duration of 45 hours (which they reduced to 33 according to the IGA and less than 30 according to Turkish Airlines) More than 10,000 pieces of equipment moved between airports, with a total weight of 47,300 tons. Equivalent to 33 football fields. 686 semi-trailers used for transportation, according to the CEO of Turkish Airlines. 1,800 people were directly involved in the process. They estimated the distance traveled by the trucks in 45 hours to be 400,000 kilometers, that is, going around the Earth about 10 times. How they did it. It took two years of meticulous preparation in which they trained 33,000 airport staff and conducted two large-scale drills to detect potential problems. Planning required more than 100 meetings and workshops and there were three logistics companies involved. For execution, they developed a logistical transfer plan with details of the movement of each vehicle in 15-minute windows. The route was established through a corridor between the two airports, using the new highway connection between both facilities and each vehicle was checked twice: once at the departure gate and once in a separate control area. The whole process was monitored in real time with GPRS to detect any incident. At 02:59 on April 6, 2019, the IATA code changes were made: Atatürk’s IST code was renamed ISL and the new airport inherited it. Between 02:00 and 14:00 that day, both airports were closed to commercial flights, a 12-hour period that constituted the critical core of the entire operation. The new airport. Istanbul Airport had an estimated budget of 22 billion euros, becoming at that time the second most expensive airport ever built, as told Reuters. Designed with a single terminal under a single roof of 1.4 million square meters, initially allowing 90 million passengers annually. The master plan contemplates expansions up to 200 million, with independent runways that allow simultaneous landings and takeoffs, eliminating waiting in the air. In 2025, the airport rondo 85 million passengers, making it the second busiest in Europe after Heathrow and the seventh in the world. In Xataka | The unfinished dream of the Roman Empire: a 125-kilometer train to link Europe and Asia over the Bosphorus In Xataka | One of the largest and strangest airports in the world is not going to be in Dubai or the UAE: it is going to be in Ethiopia Cover | Ercan Karakaş and Kulttuurinavigaattori

How this airport has become a haven for airlines

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The war conflict in Iran has forced Qatar Airways to park part of your fleet thousands of miles from home. What may have surprised some is that the chosen destination was the Teruel airport. But it makes more sense than it seems. We tell you all the details. The trigger. On February 28, when the United States and Israel launched Operation Epic Fury against Iran, the military escalation that followed caused the closure of airspace Qatar and, with it, the temporary suspension of Qatar Airways commercial flights. The company, based at Doha’s Hamad International Airport, announced it would not resume operations until civil aviation authorities ensured safe conditions. Since then, as has shared El Confidencial has only operated specific flights through restricted air corridors. Why Teruel? With a fleet grounded and the risk of keeping it in a war-torn region, Qatar Airways needed to move its planes to safe and affordable locations. Teruel Airport, which does not operate regular passenger flights but is home to Tarmac Aerosave, a company specialized in parking, maintenance and aeronautical recycling with offices also in Toulouse and Tarbes, was a perfect fit. It is not the first time that its facilities have faced a crisis of this caliber, since during the pandemic it managed to guard 127 aircraft simultaneously, including more than twenty Airbus A-380s, according to they count from Diario de Teruel. The numbers. In less than ten days, Qatar Airways has moved at least 17 of its aircraft to Teruel, which were joined by three other planes from different companies, including an Air France Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner from Paris, according to The Diary. Among the models that have arrived at the facilities are several wide-body Airbus A330s (with capacity for between 335 and 440 passengers), Airbus A350s and some Boeings. Just like share The medium, this Sunday five planes landed in just over an hour: four A330s from Doha and one A350 from Los Angeles. They all arrived with special flight codes indicating they were traveling without passengers on board. Octavio López, president of the Teruel Airport Consortium, said that the airlines arrive “knowing that in Teruel they will find a safe and prepared place for parking and all the maintenance tasks that their aircraft require.” There are currently about 70 aircraft parked on the Teruel platform, and that number may continue to grow as long as the conflict lasts. Change of plans. Qatar Airways is not the only one affected. Etihad Airways, based in Abu Dhabi, operates a very reduced commercial program, and Emirates, from Dubai, also maintains a reduced scheme. The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued at the end of February an alert bulletin in which it recommends not operating in the airspace of eleven countries in the region, including Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, at any altitude. Routes between Europe and Asia, which usually cross the Persian Gulf, have been diverted south (via Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Oman) or north (via the Caucasus and Afghanistan), adding between 45 minutes and two hours to each flight. Added to that are interference in GPS signals detected over Lebanon and Oman, which further complicate commercial flights. What happens now? The situation remains very volatile. US President Donald Trump threatened this Sunday with attack Iran’s power plants if the country does not open the Strait of Hormuz, to which the Iranian Army responded warning of possible attacks on US strategic assets in the region. The situation is not yet expected to normalize soon. In fact, Qatar Airways has asked to its passengers not to go to the airports unless they receive official confirmation of their flight, offering date changes or refunds to those who had reservations until March 22. For now, it seems that more planes will continue to arrive in Teruel. Cover image | Jan Rosolino In Xataka | Guess what ubiquitous industry in our lives depends on helium? And now guess where that helium comes from?

India wants to build a mammoth airport for 120 million passengers a year. The problem is that it accumulates years of delays

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India is building one of the most ambitious airport infrastructures on the continent. The Noida International Airport, built in Jewar, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, has the potential to become one of the largest hubs in Asia with a planned maximum capacity of between 60 and 120 million passengers per year. We tell you all the details of this mammoth project. A project with decades of history behind it. The idea of ​​building a large airport in this area has been brewing for years. The original proposal dates back to 2001, when the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Rajnath Singh, proposed an aeronautical hub geared towards Taj Mahal tourism. After years of political changes, disputes over the location and administrative stoppages, the project was relaunched in 2014. The central government gave its final approval in 2015, and in November 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the first phase. Who builds it and how. The development is carried out by Noida International Airport Limited (NIAL) under a public-private partnership model. In 2019, Flughafen Zürich AG, the operating company of Zurich Airport, won the tender to build and manage it for 40 years. Civil construction was awarded in 2022 to Tata Projects Limited, with a stated target of net zero emissions. What will be there when it opens. The first phase includes a terminal (T1) with capacity for 12 million passengers per year and a 3,900-meter runway, already operational. The basic infrastructure is practically ready: control tower, baggage management systems, ten boarding bridges and security services. According to account The Sun, the interior design opts for an open-plan aesthetic with an undulating roof that imitates the flow of a river, large air-conditioned waiting areas, self-check-in kiosks, prayer rooms and children’s areas. There will also be a central area open to the outside with vegetation and shade. A phased deployment until 2050. The airport will grow in four phases. To the first terminal and initial runway, three more terminals and up to six runways in total will be added progressively, reaching a combined capacity of between 60 and 120 million passengers per year by 2050, according to the data collected by The Times India. That would put him in the same league as the Beijing Daxing International Airport either the one in dubai. Its great advantage: the Taj Mahal within reach. Agra, home to the Taj Mahal and which receives up to eight million visitors a year, is now almost four hours’ drive from New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. With the new airport, that trip would be reduced to just over two hours. The project is also designed as an alternative to the overcrowded Indira Gandhi, the main hub of the Delhi metropolitan area. Beyond the passengers. The airport also aspires to become an important cargo node for northern India, relying on its proximity to the Delhi-Mumbai Express Corridor and Dedicated Freight Corridors, as point the Time Out medium. The airlines that have already committed. IndiGo and Akasa Air have confirmed operations at the airport, mainly on domestic routes. Among the destinations mentioned are Bombay, Hyderabad and Calcutta. International routes, including possible connections to Zurich or Dubai, are still pending confirmation. Delays, the big problem. The opening was initially planned for 2022, then for September 2024, and later there was talk of October 30 of that year. The works continue and given the history of delays, there is no choice but to wait for a definitive opening date, which should be shortly. Images | Noida International Airport In Xataka | A megastructure was built 1,700 years ago for eternity: today it continues to dominate Sri Lanka

In the 70s Álava left an entire town under its airport. What I didn’t know was that it was hiding a treasure of 5,000 medieval coins.

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He Vitoria airport It may not be the largest, the best connected or the busiest in the country, but it stands out for the volume of merchandise it moves. Last month it exceeded 5,400 tonswhich consolidates it as Aena’s fourth busiest aerodrome, only behind Barajas, El Prat and Zaragoza. If the Alava terminal works, moving cargo, planes and hundreds of thousands of passengers, it is thanks to an old village that ended up buried in the 70s: Otaza. The most curious thing is that he did it with a hidden medieval treasure. The price of growing. In the 1970s, Álava businessmen found themselves with a dilemma. If they wanted to continue growing, they needed better connections, regular flights that would allow them to reach the rest of the metropolises in Spain and Europe. They had the Salburua airfieldinaugurated in 1935, but it did not seem like the best solution, so the technicians had to look for alternatives. And they found her. After evaluating several locations in the region, such as Ullibarri Arrazua. Salvatierra or Zurbano concluded that the best solution was to set up a new aircraft facility on the land of the town of Foronda. A work in record time. The project had the support of the Provincial Council and moved forward with astonishing speed. At least for the deadlines that infrastructures the size of an airport usually handle today. The construction of the aerodrome was approved in 1972 and in 1976 Civil Aviation gave its OK to the first phase. The works, remember The Mailinvolved the construction of a 2,200 x 45 m flight runway, in addition to the operating systems. The work (and procedures) continued to advance at a good pace during the following years. In 1978, the institutional machinery was launched to contract the control tower, accesses and urbanization and just two years later (the January 30, 1980) the ministry officially opened Vitoria Airport to national and international passenger traffic. In April of that same year Iberia inaugurated one of its most important lines, the one that exalts it with Madrid. Sew and sing, right? Not at all. The construction of the terminal encountered a problem: the proximity of a small village that ended up being located 370 meters from the runway. His name: Otaza. The population had a long history and it even had its own church, but it was not what is said to be very populous. It is estimated that at the beginning of the 19th century it hosted only about thirty of people, more or less what there were in 1974, when according to The Mail 26 neighbors lived there. The Álava authorities were therefore faced with a dilemma: What should take priority, the new airfield or a village with a handful of families? And the pickaxe arrived. The expropriation was not what is called simple. Not all the neighbors willingly agreed to leave their homes and in fact there were a few ‘numantinos’ (not many, it is true) who did not leave until the end. Their efforts did not prevent the bulldozers from taking Otaza away. In October 1979, the regional press reported how, after a break and despite not yet having reached a total agreement with the neighbors, the authorities had resumed the demolition work. The Bishopric had fewer objections, which reached an agreement that allowed the village temple to be demolished. The pickaxe had to work little. A few days later, on November 2, the demolition was completed. A town to remember. That was the end of Otaza. Although in its day the town had welcomed dozens of people, had a church and services, the expropriation of the land and the demolition works sealed its fate. Shortly after completing the works, the authorities agreed the disappearance of the council, which is now part of Astegieta. However, as EITB recalls, it was not the only town affected by the works on the new terminal. Antezana of Foronda He also paid a ‘toll’ for Álava to have its own flights. One last surprise. Otaza’s story could have ended there if it weren’t for the fact that shortly after his ‘death’, in April 1980, a family decided to take a walk through the grounds. During the walk, as they passed near the church of San Emeterio and San Celedonio, they found a jar with coins. The piece caught their attention enough to report it to the authorities, who confirmed that it was a curious treasure: more than 5,000 coins of copper and silver minted during the reigns of Alfonso I of Aragon and Alfonso VIIIbetween the 12th and 13th centuries. Today it is known as “the treasure of Otaza”. Images | WikipediaGoogle Earth and Mikelo (Flickr) In Xataka | Barajas needed to improve its roads but a baroque hermitage made it complicated. Solution: put it in a roundabout

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