Aena, the Spanish majority state-owned company that manages 46 airports in the country, unveiled its plans for the next five-year cycle, which includes investments of up to €12.8 billion ($15.1 billion) that will be funded through increasing airport charges for airlines flying from/to its airports.
Aena’s next investment cycle
On February 18, 2026, Aena confirmed that its board of directors approved the Airport Regulation Document (DORA) for the period 2027 to 2031. During the five-year period, Aena plans a “major investment cycle” after two periods of frozen airport charges, as its focus was mostly on “regulatory and replacement actions.”
“The goal is to provide airports with the capacity to handle increased traffic in the coming decades and to ensure that the highest standards of safety, maintenance, and quality for passengers and airlines, as well as environmental sustainability, are met, all the while maintaining competitive charges.”
During the five-year period, the Spanish company plans to invest €12.8 billion ($15.1 billion) into its airports. As a result, Aeana “is proposing an average annual increase of only” €0.43 ($0.51) of its per-passenger airport charge, arguing that the small increase will keep its charges at “highly competitive levels and will allow the company to remain highly efficient.”
The charges will be adjusted per airport, and will be lower for small and medium airports, Aena emphasized.
According to the Spanish entity, at Madrid Barajas Airport (MAD), for example, its 2026 per-passenger charges are €13.39 ($15.84) on flights to other airports within the European Economic Area (EEA) and €18.96 ($22.42) on international flights.
Security-related charges are €3.72 ($4.40) per traveler.
However, MAD is the most expensive airport in terms of its charges. At the other end of the spectrum, at San Sebastian Airport (SAN), for example, where United Airlines will launch flights, the per-passenger charge is €2.22 ($2.62) for intra-EEA flights and €3.35 ($3.94) for other international routes.
Slowdown of growth between 2027 and 2031
According to Aena’s traffic scenario, between 2027 and 2031, its airports will welcome 1.6 billion passengers, with the five-year period being marked “by a certain slowdown [in growth] after a strong post-pandemic recovery.”
In 2025, the group’s Spanish airports welcomed 321.5 million travelers, an increase of 3.9% year-on-year (YoY).
The Spanish airport company continued that, to ensure that its airports do not obstruct growth during “different economic cycles,” the investments will help Aena to deal with the upcoming growth of traffic, maintain standards and efficiency of its airports, and other factors.
Maurici Lucena, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Aena, first noted that the proposed investment reflected the company’s “firm commitment to passengers and airlines in an environment of highly stressed infrastructures,” adding that Aena is aware that the upcoming period will be a challenge since “many major airports will be undergoing expansion and improvements for years to come.”
"The fact that investments have been ‘unfrozen’ is essential for the sustainable progress of airports and consequently of regions, because air transport infrastructures cannot stand in the way of progress and mobility.”
Aena detailed that the proposal will be sent over to the Spanish Directorate General of Civil Aviation (Dirección General de Aviación Civil, DGAC) and the Spanish National Commission on Markets and Competition (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia, CNMC).
Spain’s Council of Ministers will approve the final document by September “at the latest,” Aena concluded.
“In the process of drafting this DORA proposal, Aena previously carried out a process of consultation with airlines and users, which lasted five months.”
Public spat over charges
While Aena did not specify when the consultation process was taking place, a few months ago, the Spanish company had a public spat with Ryanair. In early September 2025, the low-cost carrier announced that it will slash its winter 2025/2026 season capacity from nine Spanish regional airports, citing “excessive and uncompetitive airport charges.”
In a public response, Lucena stated that nowadays it would be hard to find a case like “Ryanair, where the dissonance between a company’s operational excellence and the dishonesty of its communications policy is so striking.”
“If Spanish airports were to evolve to the tune of Ryanair's demands, whining, cajoling, and unbearable extortionist strategies, they would cease to function well (as they do today) in the medium and long term, and would not be financially sustainable.”
Ryanair fired back a day after, saying that Lucena should “calm down and reduce AENA's high monopoly fees at Spanish regional airports, fees that are damaging air traffic, tourism, and employment.”
The low-cost carrier followed through on its threat, ending flights at three Spanish regional airports during the winter 2025/2026 season and reducing capacity at others. Overall, between November 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, Ryanair’s total seat count on departures from Spain is down 3.3% YoY, or over 423,000 total seats.
Rytis Beresnevicius
