Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (EFE) suspend the processing, as announced this Thursday by its spokesman, Julio Pérez.
In a press conference after the Governing Council, Pérez has informed of this decision and has transferred that the Executive is contrary, for which he asks that other alternatives be valued and maintain their public nature, so that the final decision is the most appropriate to the public interest and prioritize quality and safety in the air control service of the Canary Islands aerodromes.
Pérez has trusted that the position of the Canary Islands Executive be taken into account and has indicated that to defend this position the Statute of the Canary Islands is invoked.
In a statement, the Ministry of Public Works, Transport and Housing of the Government of the Canary Islands has detailed that the allegations have been presented to the draft order of the General Directorate of Civil Aviation that intends to select new civil providers of air traffic control services for seven aerodromes throughout Spain including the airports of Gran Canaria, Tenerife North and Tenerife South.
These three Canarian airports are the busiest in the Autonomous Community with more than 1,331,000 travelers last January, 70% of the passengers from all Canarian airports, the note highlights.
The Ministry of Transport recalls that, according to article 161.2 of the Statute of Autonomy of the Canary Islands, the participation in the planning and programming and management of ports and airports of general interest corresponds to the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands in the terms determined by state regulations , as they are essential networks for connecting the territory as an outermost region.
For this reason, and because the outsourcing of air traffic control services can have a great impact on security and connectivity with the Canary Islands and mobility between them, which is being so important in the progressive recovery of economic activity and employment. of the Archipelago after the pandemic crisis and the invasion of Ukraine, is why the Ministry considers it necessary to request the suspension of this privatization process.
“For all this, and in accordance with the provisions of the Ministerial Order project, in the sense that the number and magnitude of the airports affected by this order and the complexity of the transition processes between public and private providers are taken into account. , we wish to express our disagreement with the process of liberalization of air traffic control services at the airports of the Canary Islands (the three included in the Order) and this in the interest of the principles of safety and quality of service and we propose the suspension of the process of the draft order”, requests the allegation presented.
The Ministry adds in these allegations that the stoppage request is made not only based on the aforementioned statutory powers, but also so that the final decision is the most appropriate to the public interest and prioritizes quality and safety in the air control service. from the airports of Tenerife and Gran Canaria.
In these allegations presented by the Regional Ministry of Transport, it is clear that the commitment of this Government is to maintain public control over the towers of these three airports.
“Consequently, from the Government of the Canary Islands we are not in favor of fragmented and privatized air traffic control services, but of services of general interest under public and efficient management, so that they continue to contribute decisively to the common purposes of growth economics and security of operations. This is what we demand from the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands ”, states the allegation.
The Canarian Government is committed to keeping the public entity ENAIRE, attached to the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, in charge of the air traffic control centers of the three Canarian airports affected for its proven efficiency and quality, which has been recognized even by various EU bodies.
“Therefore, the levels of quality and safety in air traffic at the Tenerife and Gran Canaria airports are greatly ensured with the management that ENAIRE has been carrying out up to now without any safety problems or affecting the quality of the services. ”, states the allegation. EFE