Walter Finch
GIBRALTAR airport could be welcoming up to 20,000 passengers a day after Spain agreed to formally recognise the airstrip and treat it as part of the Schengen zone.
La Linea mayor Juan Franco confirmed to the Olive Press that the long-disputed airport – until now blocked from EU aviation agreements – will be acknowledged by Spain as part of the Common European Aviation Area.
“Spain will now recognise that there is an airport, and the airport will enter the European Common Aviation Area so that commercial aircraft from other parts of Europe will be able to come,” Franco explained.
The new agreement, hailed as ‘common sense’ by the mayor, marks a major political shift since the current terminal was first opened in 2012.
READ MORE: Ex-Gibraltar police chief claims vindication as audit reveals £2m pay-offs to outgoing officers
It also raises the possibility of expanding the airport’s facilities onto Spanish soil – a plan La Línea is ready for, Franco confirmed.
“We have reserved land so that, if it’s necessary to expand part of the terminal onto Spanish territory, we could use that land,” he said, referring to a 5,000–10,000 square metre plot just beyond the border.
However, he acknowledged that expansion may not be necessary.
“But building it just for the sake of it, I’m not in agreement. I believe that the current terminal’s dimensions already meet even future needs – although I’m not an engineer.”
Franco suggested the airport could handle a figure much higher than commonly thought – but with caveats.
“I saw a figure suggesting the airport had the capacity for about 20,000 passengers a day,” he said. “But it wasn’t from official documentation.”
Should the figure be accurate, it would mean that Gibraltar airport as it currently is could handle roughly seven million passengers a year.
This would put it on a par with Sevilla airport, which handled nine million last year, but some way behind Malaga, a regional hub which sees around 30 million.
However, Gibraltar airport’s official design capacity is believed to be between 1.5 and 2 million passengers per year, equivalent to roughly 4,000–5,500 passengers per day.
With current maximum capacity as well as future demand still unknown, it remains to be seen whether La Linea will build its own terminal. But changes are certain.
One certainty, of the many to emerge from the post-Brexit agreement between the UK and EU over Gibraltar’s status, is that the airport will soon begin accepting flights from cities like Madrid, Barcelona and even destinations beyond the EU, such as Morocco.
READ MORE: Damning report reveals Gibraltar’s system of patronage as £13m handed out to ‘loyalists’
“If flights started arriving here from Madrid, Barcelona or other cities, it would be an incredible opportunity economically, in terms of tourism and development.
“It would be spectacular news for the region,” Franco added.
Currently, Gibraltar airport receives only a handful of flights per day from the UK, due to Spain’s longstanding refusal to recognise the legitimacy of the airfield, which Madrid considers to sit on ‘usurped’ Spanish land.
If expansion does not go ahead, Franco revealed that the reserved land, which has just hosted La Línea’s feria, will be developed into a technology park instead.
“This is about 70,000 square metres, it’s municipal land, and we’ll start developing a technology centre,” he said.
READ MORE: Spain envisions its own terminal at Gibraltar airport in a ‘joint hub of over 120,000 people’
It will serve as a home for new businesses that he hopes will flock to the region thanks to the removal of the physical border with Gibraltar – and an expanded airport.
“Let’s stop arguing over who owns the land and agree that it’s an airport. We can debate ownership later.”
He confirmed that the project has backing from the Spanish government, with a memorandum due to be sent to Madrid.
“At the moment, it seems like we do [have support from Madrid]. In fact, we’re hoping to finalise the memorandum this week.”
However, he admitted there have been no formal discussions yet with AENA, the Spanish airport authority, or the Ministry of Transport.
READ MORE: Spain’s La Linea to expand vital transport link as Gibraltar deal expected to turbo charge growth
Franco said he had also spoken informally with Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo during a recent Chamber of Commerce dinner and hoped for deeper cooperation once the summer feria was over.
Franco compared the potential setup to Geneva’s international airport, which straddles the Swiss-French border and allows for dual access.
He said he expected joint border checks using integrated computer systems, avoiding the need for one of the most controversial measures in the agreement, which would see separate Gibraltar and Policia Nacional officers duplicate passport controls.
“The control will be joint, with an integrated computer system,” he explained, negating the need for the dual checks as ‘it wouldn’t make sense’.
“The normal thing, I believe — though I don’t know for sure — is that the registration will be done by the British or Gibraltarian police using a computer system that I assume will be connected to the Spanish database.
“And since there won’t be any more checks — because once you enter through Gibraltar, you’ve entered the EU — it will already be logged.
“If you’d asked me this 30 years ago, I’d have said: of course there will be double checks.
“But when everything is signed and the border is gone… the normal thing is for there to be a single check and for the databases to be connected.”
But he added: “I don’t have the information – I’m just telling you what I would do.”
The official position regarding the airport is that a joint venture company will be set up in Ireland, owned 50/50 by Gibraltar and Spain, which will award a tender to a separate commercial operator to run the airport – but ownership of the airport will remain with the Gibraltar government.
This arrangement ensures that no changes can be made without Gibraltar’s consent and marks a step back from the 2006 Cordoba agreement, under which the joint company itself directly managed the terminal.
The Gibraltar government told the Olive Press that ‘nothing has changed’ regarding the airport.
Nonetheless, Franco mayor described upcoming developments as a ‘historic opportunity’ for La Línea, comparing the town’s recovery to a patient leaving intensive care.
“We were in the ICU. Now we’ve been moved to a ward – we still have problems, but we’re recovering.”
Click here to read more Gibraltar News from The Olive Press.
