According to the forecasts contained in the ENAIRE strategic plan, air traffic will grow by 16% to 2020, when it will reach 2.2 million flights. This is 300,000 more flights than the total recorded in the whole of 2016.
In response to this growing demand and European requirements, the air navigation manager will focus a large part of its efforts and resources on improving the capacity and efficiency of Spanish airspace and on R&D+i.
ENAIRE is the fourth-largest European service provider in terms of the number of flights managed within its airspace, one of the largest in Europe at 2.2 million square kilometres.
The Single European Sky Project makes airspace an increasingly global and competitive environment. This initiative by the European Commission is mainly aimed at eliminating the current fragmentation of national airspaces and systems to achieve a genuinely standardised European airspace with entirely inter-operable technology systems.
To tackle this challenge and lead the change, the ENAIRE strategic plan - entitled 'Flight Plan 2020' - provides for an investment of 300 million euros in the period 2017-2020, which will be used to modernise and evolve the Spanish air navigation system.
The Minister for Public Works stressed that this investment will enable safety levels to be increased even further, boost environmental sustainability and foster the provision of a safe, efficient and quality service to airlines, airport managers and, by extension, passengers. This also falls in line with the commitment contained in the DORA (Airport Regulation Document).
Investment to lead the change
The investment scheduled by ENAIRE (70.1 million euros in 2017; 73.3 million euros in 2018; 74.8 million euros in 2019; and 76 million euros in 2020) will be focused on such actions as the following:
Evolution of the Automated Air Traffic Control System (AATCS) with advanced solutions in line with the main European providers (iTEC Project).
Modernisation of voice communication systems between controllers and pilots, incorporating ground-air data links and applying new technologies that will offer a response to the requirements of the Single Sky.
Evolution of navigation and surveillance systems, incorporating new next-generation radars (Mode S) and satellite technologies (EGNOS, ADS-B).
Rollout of a new high-performance air navigation data network for rapid information exchange.
More competitive tariffs
The Flight Plan 2020 also includes an 11.5% reduction to route charges between 2018 and 2020 (3% in 2018; 4% in 2019; and 5% in 2020). In fact, as from 2019, it will be the lowest route charge of all the main European providers. The reduction will result in a saving of 184 million euros for airlines.
This measure has been possible thanks to the effort made in terms of efficiency and will lay the groundwork for encouraging competitiveness in the sector, promoting tourism and benefiting air transport users.
This investment effort and charge reduction is also being undertaken with the added merit of maintaining the economic viability of ENAIRE, with a forecast annual EBITDA of over 200 million euros over the last four years and annual solvency ratio growth of 4.5%.
Environmental benefits
Thanks to the improved efficiency of routes stemming from the design of more direct routes and the implementation of green approaches at airports, the following environmental benefits are expected between 2017 and 2020: saving of 5.5 million nautical miles; 61,000 tonnes of fuel; and 190,000 tonnes of CO2. The estimated fuel saving for the four-year period exceeds 26 million euros.
Internationalisation
As regards the internationalisation of ENAIRE, Íñigo de la Serna announced that the air navigation manager will actively participate in international satellite navigation (EESP) and satellite surveillance (ADS-B) consortiums and partnerships, will bid for the pan-European digital communications service (NewPENS) to 2028, the European ATM Information Management Service (EAIMS) to 2030 and opt in to new opportunities in satellite data communications services (IRIS).
About ENAIRE
ENAIRE is the public business entity managed under the Ministry of Public Works that manages the fourth-largest airspace in Europe in terms of traffic volume via five control centres, 22 control towers and a network of aeronautical infrastructures and equipment. The traffic managed by ENAIRE carries over 230 million passengers a year.
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