AIRPORTS in Spain had a record year in 2016 with 230 million passengers travelling to and from, and within, the country.
The tourism boom seen last year, partly caused by feelings of insecurity in other traditional sunshine destinations such as Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt, meant an 11% rise on passenger traffic seen in 2015 and even beat the last-recorded figures in the year before the financial crisis started.
Back in 2007, Spain's airports registered a total of 210.5 million travellers throughout the year, which until now has been the highest number in history.
And now, with an extra 19.5 million as Spain welcomed 70 million tourists – more than the entire population of the UK and more than one-and-a-half times that of Spain itself – air passenger numbers have never been so high.
If the trend continues, air terminal governing body AENA expects a further 5% increase in 2017, and to break the 240 million barrier in 2020.
The newly-appointed minister of public works, transport and infrastructure, Íñigo de la Serna, calls the figures 'extraordinary' and says in the next few days, the government will reveal its position concerning airport tax levels over the next five years.
New airline tariffs will be released on March 1 for 2017.
De la Serna says at present, his ministry is not considering privatising a further chunk of AENA, and that in any case, no decisions will be taken in the short-term, 'meaning the next few weeks or months'.
AENA is hoping to be able to freeze airport taxes between now and 2021 inclusive, whilst the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) is calling for them to go down by 2%.
It will be the Council of Ministers, the government's in-house committee of department leaders, which will have the final say.
Taxes charged to airlines for use of a given airport have a bearing on the price of travel and explain why some destinations are cheaper or more expensive than others.
