Aena is struggling to carry out two of the most important tenders, cornerstones of the airport business diversification strategy: logistics and trade. This same week, the manager, 51% owned by the State, has reported that it is forced to set the counter to zero both in the first major initiative of the future airport city of Barajas, one of its star projects, and in the concession of duty free shops at Madrid and Barcelona airports (the jewels in Aena's crown and those that bring in the most commercial income), in addition to those in Girona and Reus.
No company has responded to the call, despite the fact that the listed company has generated 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 have seen, as they have stated, that the conditions of the tender - drawn up and presented during 2021 - were not advantageous, given the new economic context.
First, Segro and PSP, who had presented a joint offer and obtained the highest score to take over the first batch of logistics land put out to tender in Barajas, gave up. With an area to exploit of 28 hectares and 152,914 square meters for warehouses, Aena proposed a right to use the land for 75 years in exchange for up to 35% of the company's capital. The partner would own the remaining 65% and assume the investment in works. In total, the projected airport city foresees 2.1 million buildable square meters. After the resignation of Segro and PSP, the second option was Logicor, which also withdrew. Then P3 was tried, but the negotiations ended up derailing. The next alternative, Merlin, did not come to fruition either, and the last one in the running, the Australian Goodman - which has been awarded the land of the former Nissan in Barcelona - also decided to take a step back and not opt 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 defection and has made Aena's tender less attractive, say sources in the sector. Now the company chaired by Maurici Lucena will launch the competition again, modifying the conditions, which it will adapt to the new economic context, they confirm from the listed company. Aena also has pending the tender for the airport city of El Prat - it has not yet launched the competition. In Barcelona, it plans to dedicate 151 hectares to different uses, which will be made available to those interested from 2024. The initial project will consist of a hotel next to T2 that will be tendered in the second semester of 2024. Then, the first semester from 2025, Aena plans to put 36 hectares on the market for the development of a first logistics hub.
In the case of duty-free shops, the desertion of commercial operators in the Barajas and El Prat lot has meant that Aena has to restart the procedure for these airports. The airport manager has chosen 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 competition deserted in these airports, they confirm in the sector. "According to the technical and economic conditions that Aena has put forward in the competition, the guaranteed rents that must 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 operators It also raises legal doubts, since they are not responsible for the flow of passengers", says Carlos Gallego, director general 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 inclined towards the commercial operator", he adds.
The current tender for the 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 during the same period in 2022. Income from fixed incomes also exceed 2019 figures by 15.8% and went to 5.06 euros per passenger.
