Aena to invest EUR13 billion across its Spanish network, but only where it can be justified

Aena, the partially privatised national operator of Spain's airports, has allocated almost EUR13 billion under the DORA, the law that governs the framework for managing the country's airports, for the next round of investment from 2027 to 2031.

The Madrid and Barcelona airports will be the main beneficiaries, as usual, but they are significant on a European, and even global (in the case of Madrid) scale.

Also benefitting will be Málaga and Alicante airports, the two main ones supporting Spain's massive coastal tourism industry; but not Palma, the country's third busiest airport, where major works are coming to a conclusion from the previous round.

Collectively, it is the largest round of investment by Aena in 20 years. It is clear that investment will be governed by actual traffic and future projections.

That raises questions about the smaller airports (there are 46 in all). They are protected by a cross-subsidisation scheme, but the original protection provided by the DORA, a decade on from Aena's partial privatisation, seems to be waning.