Aena is suffering to carry out two of its biggest tenders, cornerstones of the diversification strategy of the airport business: logistics and trade. This same week, the manager, 51% owned by the State, has reported that it is forced to reset the counter both in the first major initiative of the future Barajas Airport City, one of its flagship projects, and in the concession of the duty free shops at Madrid and Barcelona airports (the jewels in Aena's crown and the ones that bring in the most commercial revenue), in addition to those in Girona and Reus.
No company has responded to his call despite the fact that the listed company has wielded a large volume of business in these two activities. In the case of Barajas logistics, the companies have been withdrawing in a chain when they saw, as they have stated, that the conditions of the tender – drafted and presented during 2021 – were not advantageous given the new economic context.
First, Segro and PSP, who had submitted a joint offer and achieved the highest score to win the first batch of logistics land put out to tender in Barajas, withdrew. With an unexploited area of 28 hectares and 152,914 square meters for warehouses, Aena proposed a 75-year land use right in exchange for up to 35% of the company's capital. The partner would own the remaining 65% and would assume the investment in works. In total, the projected airport city provides for 2.1 million buildable square meters. After the resignation of Segro and PSP, the second option was Logicor, which also withdrew. From there, an attempt was made with P3, but the negotiations ended up derailing. The next alternative, Merlin, was also unsuccessful, and the last one in the running, the Australian company Goodman – which has been awarded the land of the old Nissan in Barcelona – also decided to take a step back and not apply for the tender.
The cost of money, with the tightening of interest rates initiated by the European Central Bank and other international entities, has led to this flight and has made Aena's competition less attractive, explain sources in the sector. Now, the company chaired by Maurici Lucena will relaunch the contest modifying the conditions, which it will adapt to the new economic context, confirm from the listed company. Aena also has the tender for the airport city of El Prat pending – the tender has not yet been launched. In Barcelona, it plans to dedicate 151 hectares to different uses that will be made available to interested parties from 2024. The initial project will consist of a hotel next to T2 that will be put to tender in the second half of 2024. Then, in the first half By 2025, Aena plans to put 36 hectares on the market for the development of a first logistics hub.
In the case of duty-free stores, the desertion of commercial operators in the Barajas and El Prat lots has meant that Aena has to restart the procedure for these airports. The airport manager has chosen here to maintain the technical and economic conditions of the tender. And this has caused surprise among the duty free companies, since it was precisely these rules that left the contest deserted in these airports, they confirm in the sector. “According to the technical and economic conditions that Aena has raised in the tender, the guaranteed rents that have to be paid in airports of the size and volume of Barajas and El Prat represent a very high amount, which means a high risk for the operators. It also raises legal questions since they are not responsible for the flow of passengers”, says Carlos Gallego, general director of the Spanish Association of Commercial Operators of Airports, Ports and Stations (Aeocape). “We propose a business model that balances the obligations of the parties, today clearly leaning towards the commercial operator”, he adds.
The current tender for duty free stores ends on October 31, and Aena must find a tenant in Barcelona and Madrid in record time. At stake is a large part of its commercial income, which in the first quarter of the year alone reached 337.9 million euros, 40.1% more than in the same period of 2022. Income from fixed income also exceeded by a 15.8% the figures for 2019 and went to 5.06 euros per passenger.
