The relationship between Iberia and Aena is not going through its best moment. The tension between the two companies as a result of the ground handling contest, which displaced Iberia from a large part of the airports, including El Prat, has risen one more step this Wednesday. To the point that the airport manager has publicly urged the airline not to "hinder" the award process to the new operators that have won the concession.
Aena's anger comes after it emerged this morning that the Central Administrative Court of Contractual Resources (TACRC) has suspended the contest following Iberia's appeal. The suspension is an automatic procedure, since the IAG airline appealed the result of the tender on October 20. Lots 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12 and 14, as well as the ground handling services contracting file, are thus frozen until there is a resolution of the claim presented by the company.
Iberia received the notification from the TACRC this Wednesday, which it rated with "satisfaction." It will thus wait for the Court's final decision before deciding whether it chooses to autohandle the airlines of the IAG group at the airports where it has lost the competition.
But for Aena the response to this situation is much simpler. "Other companies have prepared better proposals," stressed the listed company chaired by Maurici Lucena. "European and Spanish legislation enshrines the basic principle that all handling companies have the same rights and opportunities as Iberia," he concluded. For this reason, he asks you to park your resources and "make decisions for the good of your workers and the service at the airports." That is, it does autohandling.
The process that has pitted the two companies against one another also has hundreds of Iberia ground service workers throughout Spain in suspense. A few days ago, the unions gathered at the Barcelona airport, where there are the most affected employees, so that subrogation to the new winners of the licenses guarantees working conditions.
