If EUROCONTROL’s most optimistic forecasts hold true, air traffic will not recover to 2019 levels until 2024. Now that the workload has decreased, are they taking advantage of this situation to implement new technologies?

ENAIRE’s Strategic Plan 2021-2025, the so-called Flight Plan 2025, has been developed taking into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the transformation taking place in the air navigation sector. The ultimate goal is to emerge stronger from this terrible crisis that has hit the airline industry so hard.

Flight Plan 2025 has a strong international focus and aims to promote the modernisation of ENAIRE through technological and digital transformation and cultural and organisational change, with the intensive participation and involvement of our professionals and stakeholders. This plan proposes air mobility in its threefold dimension as a human right, an element of social cohesion and a lever for economic growth.

Thus, apart from strengthening safety as a main strategic priority, it states that the scalability and resilience of services must ensure economic sustainability, improving the efficiency, productivity and flexibility of the organisation and the quality of services, optimising the use of resources and taking advantage of all the available technological improvements that we are already developing and implementing.

What investments will ENAIRE make in the 2021-2025 period?

We have planned, and are already implementing, a major investment plan to digitalise and comprehensively modernise Spanish air navigation technology in line with the requirements of the Single European Sky (SESAR programme) and to embark upon development and internationalisation efforts in order to become a global services operator.

Between 2021 and 2025, ENAIRE will invest more than 100 million euros per year, with the most significant investment of 172.4 million euros in 2022. The total investment amount for the period is 737 million euros.

737 million euros will be invested to modernise Spanish air navigation and become a global operator

They have further reduced charges, their main source of income. What are your turnover forecasts for 2021?

En-route charges have actually been lowered again in 2021, to 11% on the mainland and 8.5% in the Canary Islands, which were already among the lowest, again as a measure to support airlines in this second year of the pandemic.

In terms of our revenue, we believe that the 2021 charge reductions may be offset by the increase in traffic in 2021 over 2020, but we do not expect our 2021 revenue to exceed 50% that of 2019.

In truth, our forecasts are that ENAIRE will not recover its 2019 turnover before 2024, although this will be heavily influenced by the evolution of the health and economic crisis and its consequent impact on air traffic.

What is the ‘Green Sky’ project and what new measures to reduce carbon emissions would you highlight?

Flight Plan 2025 considers environmental sustainability as a fundamental issue that must be tackled in conjunction with the recovery of the air transport sector. ‘Green Sky’ is the name of ENAIRE’s sustainability strategy for the 2021-2025 period.

‘Green Sky’ is based on three basic lines of action, two of which are specifically aimed at climate action, and a third one aimed at reducing other impacts on the environment. ENAIRE contributes to the fight against climate change, firstly, by reducing atmospheric emissions associated with air transport through the actions contained in the ‘Fly Clean’ programme, which aims to optimise our air route network and reduce the distances flown and aircraft fuel consumed.

A second programme, called ‘Eco-Enaire’, contributes to the reduction of ENAIRE’s own emissions through an ambitious plan for energy efficiency and self-consumption of renewable energies. Similarly, our sustainability strategy includes a specific programme, called ‘Fly Quiet’, with the aim of reducing the acoustic impact on the airport’s surrounding populations and protected natural areas.

The widespread use of virtual networks has increased cyber-attacks, have you been affected, and what protective measures are being taken in the aviation sector?

Remote working has received a strong backing that has brought it to the forefront of the social and labour market. The communication and remote access infrastructure, which was already in place and fully functional, as well as different collaborative tools, have seen their use increase exponentially, strengthening in terms of capacity and infrastructure. All of this, of course, while applying rigorous security measures to guarantee the integrity and confidentiality of information, as well as the availability of the associated services, in full compliance with the Certification of Conformity with the National Security Scheme, for which we have been awarded the highest category.

Thanks to all of this, despite having observed an increase in cyber-attacks during the pandemic, ENAIRE has continued to provide its services in accordance with its commitments to security, quality and efficiency, without suffering any incident with a negative impact on its operations.

Flight Plan 2025 considers environmental sustainability as a fundamental issue that must be tackled in conjunction with the recovery of the air transport sector. ‘Green Sky’ is the name of ENAIRE’s sustainability strategy for the 2021-2025 period

In January 2023, the new European ‘U-Space’ regulation on drones will enter into force. What advantages will ENAIRE’s ‘U-Space’ platform offer?

The ‘U-Space’ platform will improve the safety and efficiency of operations by providing enhanced situational awareness (i.e. operators/pilots will be able to be aware, in real time, of drones flying in the vicinity, with the ability to see them on their screens at all times). This is very important as even in Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) flights there are situations where it is difficult to tell whether our drone is sufficiently far away from another drone in the vicinity. All of this is a simple but fundamental example of how to increase the safety.

All of the automation and digitalisation involved in the platform will also be very useful. This will make flight planning much more streamlined, efficient and safe, while greatly reducing the number of operational coordinations that our professionals have to perform.

It will also provide other benefits such as ensuring people’s privacy. We will be able to know for sure that the drones flying around us are legal drones, operated by professionals. This is also something that our platform will provide through the Network e-Identification service. This will enable law enforcement agencies to monitor the drones they are flying at all times.

In their recovery plan, they have emphasised communication and cooperation between the company and its professionals. What are these measures?

ENAIRE is an organisation that has long been committed to ensuring the well-being of the people that make up its workforce. Accordingly, since 2020 ENAIRE has sought to reinforce this approach to support its leaders and teams. A very important part of the Flight 2025 Plan focuses on promoting cultural transformation, diversity management, talent, conciliation, project orientation, team promotion etc. In short, on achieving a working relationship committed both to sustainability and growth and to the personal and professional progress of all its employees.

In November 2020, Eurocontrol published three scenarios for air transport recovery, all of which are linked to the evolution of the pandemic and the progress of vaccination efforts. In the most optimistic scenario, it predicted that traffic would return to 2019 levels by 2024.

The Spanish national air navigation manager and Aena’s main shareholder has faced the challenge of the decline in air traffic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic with the implementation of several lines of action: ENAIRE’s new business strategy, Flight Plan 2025 takes up the baton from Flight Plan 2020 (see ITRANSPORTE 60) and focuses on the recovery of the aeronautical sector and communication and cooperation between the company and its employees.

Among the first emergency measures, ENAIRE took the decision to drastically reduce its air traffic control charges at the end of 2020. The Spanish mainland en-route charge was reduced from 51.08 euros in 2020 to 45.44 euros in 2021, a decrease of 11%. Likewise, the en-route charge in the Canary Islands, which had already been lowered previously and is already lower than on the mainland, has also been reduced from 43.73 euros to 40 euros, a drop of 8.5%. According to the company’s data, Spain dropped its mainland en-route charges by 26% and those of the Canary Islands by 20% in 2020 and 2021, providing important support to the aviation sector during these years of crisis. Through these measures, ENAIRE aims to contribute to the recovery of air traffic in the face of its worst crisis in history due to the effects of Covid-19, to reduce costs for airlines and to help reduce ticket prices for end-users of flights.

ENAIRE’s Operational Plan, approved in February 2021, foresees an investment of 127.1 million euros this year for technological and airspace transformation. Among the main priorities are safety, Digital Sky, environmental sustainability, development of new strategic services, innovation and transformation 5.0. With the implementation of these initiatives, Enaire seeks to make counter-cyclical and transformative investments that will enable it to emerge stronger from times of crisis.

OPPORTUNITY FOR TRANSFORMATION. ENAIRE’s roadmap prioritises safety, the Digital Sky, environmental sustainability, the development of new strategic services, innovation and the 5.0 transformation. With the implementation of these initiatives, ENAIRE seeks to make counter-cyclical and transformative investments that will enable it to emerge stronger from times of crisis. / PHOTO_ENAIRE

One of the main pillars of ENAIRE’s roadmap for the coming years is digital transformation, a field for which the Council of Ministers authorised, in April 2021, the tendering of contracts for investments in business management application development projects for an amount of more than 28 million euros to be spread over two years. With this investment, ENAIRE aims to increase the productivity and efficiency of processes, improve the satisfaction of internal and external users through the use of technological tools, and facilitate and speed up administrative procedures through the digitalisation of processes.

Enaire also has a budget of two million euros for the development of its U-Space platform in Spain. This development will enable them to provide services for the automated management of drone operations beyond line-of-sight range, in specific reserved spaces called ‘U-space’ and, most importantly, in a centralised manner via CIS (Common Information Services). These services are essential to safely support drone operations when the new European U-Space regulation comes into force in January 2023. The company also participates in various European programmes such as the AMU-LED project conducted with drones, within the framework of SESAR, or the DACUS project, in which European companies and institutions participate. Ineco is also involved in these projects.

Reducing the environmental impact of each flight is a priority issue for the EU, which is counting on SESAR’s high-tech initiatives to modernise the sector and achieve a better flight planning leading to reduced emissions and noise pollution, and optimised energy efficiency. ENAIRE has been collaborating with the European SESAR project since it began in 2008. Since then, the company has participated in around a hundred projects (the programme consists of more than 300), assuming a leading role in 16 of them.

Furthermore, as a collaborating company with the United Nations Global Compact, Enaire has joined REDI, the Business Network for LGBTI Diversity and Inclusion in 2021 within the framework of the Protocol signed on 29 June by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA) with the aforementioned association. This initiative is part of the commitment to the implementation of equality and human rights as defined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda, to which the company is firmly committed.

In our first issue of 2016 we have made way for news articles and reports regarding major projects that are key to the future of Ineco and other companies from Spain. Both the study for the construction of a high-speed railway between New Delhi and Kolkata as well as the waste management contracts in Panama and Ecuador exemplify the headway made in overseas markets as a result of the years of training, work and rigour that Spanish engineering has brought to fruition in various infrastructure-related fields.

The value of these studies lies not only in their irrefutable technical and financial magnitude, but also –and almost more importantly– in the role they play in the socio-economic development of the countries where they are carried out in addition to the unique, exclusive experience that, having been designed for and applied to the Spanish market, is proving to yield excellent results in countries all around the world.

Although it was only a short time ago that we were strategizing how to export the technological capacity of the Spanish High-Speed Rail (AVE), we can now talk about some real-life examples. We are not only working in Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and Turkey, but over the last few months, Ineco has also begun to carry out studies for the implementation of this sophisticated rail technology in both Egypt and India. We are backed by more than 30 years of experience –the first high-speed railway in Spain was inaugurated in 1992– a rail network spanning 3,100 kilometres and a series of challenges that we have successfully overcome. The work that we are carrying out in India is featured both on our front page and in an article including an interview with the managing director of the HSRC, the body responsible for the development and implementation of high-speed rail projects in this Asian country.

We are not only working in Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom and Turkey, but over the last few months Ineco has also begun to carry out studies for the implementation of this sophisticated rail technology in both Egypt and India

Tourism and air transport are also activities that carry an important weight in Spain. This is apparent in the record seen by the tourism industry with a total of 68 million visitors in 2015, wherein eight out of ten tourists arrived to Spain via one of the 46 Spanish airports. We are grateful for the participation and opinions of the secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in an article covering this topic. The aviation section of this issue also features another article which addresses the technical challenges faced in the design of control towers. Finally, I should like to mention the pages that we have dedicated to the colossal engineering project that spanned the 155 kilometres of the Atlantic Axis, crossing over rugged Galician terrain: 37 tunnels and 32 viaducts highlight the enormity of this project that has now become a reality.

With these and other articles, as well as an updated design, I am certain that we are conveying the high quality standard of Spanish engineering to our clients and readers without neglecting, of course, to inform and entertain.

To what extent does improved transport infrastructure influence tourism demand?

Infrastructure not only related to transport, but also to electricity and water, amongst others, have a vital relationship with the quality of tourism of a country. The extent thereof is linked to access to the country and to the services that tourists who visit it can enjoy. As such, both investment in the development of new infrastructure and the maintenance of already existing infrastructure is a strong determinant of the competiveness of the tourism sector.

In Spain, 80% of international tourists travel by airplane. Does AVE have any opportunity to gain prominence?

Not only AVE, but also the whole Spanish rail network, which is of a high quality. This is particularly evident in terms of the diversification of demand throughout Spain and the promotion of segments such as sports and ski tourism or cultural and gastronomic tourism.

What is Spanish tourism’s strength?

It is difficult to highlight just one strength when there are so many that deserve to be mentioned. I think that the first point is the training and professionalism of the individuals and institutions within it. In Spain, these individuals and institutions are responsible for a tourist who visits Spain for the first time coming back again and again in the future. This is an achievement that few countries have managed. The work carried out in recent years to diversify traditional beach tourism in other segments such as rural or cultural tourism is also a milestone that deserves to be recognised.

What do you think we should invest in?

There is always room for improvement. In this regard, continuing to work on developing segments such as gastronomy or maintenance and integration of infrastructure to make the experience of tourists more comfortable are areas that deserve continuous attention.

Spanish tourism is strong thanks to the professionalism of individuals and institutions

Will we lose tourism when stability is recovered in the north of Africa and the Middle East?

It is very unfair to think that the development that Spanish tourism has experienced has anything to do with the potential crises that other destinations are experiencing. Spain has devoted itself to tourism, it has done its work well for various decades and, as such, it has obtained these notable results that improve every year. The recovery of the area would be good news for all and would not harm anyone in any way. The slogan of the tourism sector is: “what is good for my neighbour is good for me”.

Do you see Spain as an upmarket and even a luxury destination?

I see Spain as a top destination in many segments that are consolidated, such as luxury tourism, but also in more recently appearing segments such as shopping tourism.

Do you think it is feasible to put limits on mass tourism in order to avoid the degradation of destinations?

There is nothing that we could call mass tourism, only the arrival of many tourists and the inability to manage it. We must develop appropriate strategic tools that help to avoid decongestion in accordance with which areas and, of course, measures guarantee the protection and sustainability of the natural and cultural heritage, as well as making the sector profitable for the local populations.

Which new areas in the world do you think will gain outgoing as well as incoming tourism?

According to our Barometer, Europe continues to be the most visited region with a 5% increase. Asia and the countries of the Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East are growing at a rate of 4%. This reflects the fact that emerging countries have significant expectations to consider for the future. In fact, China is now the first country in terms of outbound tourists.