Nevis Newcastle Airport

Global Airport Development preview: 'Y Viva Aeropuertos Espanoles'

Oh this year I'm off to Sunny Spain, Y Viva Espana!
I'm taking the Costa Brava 'plane, Y Viva Espana!
If you'd like to chat a matador, in some cool cabana And meet senoritas by the score, Espana por favor!!♪

(A 1970’s song popularised by Sylvia Vrethammar, which unaccountably sold over one million copies.)

The 18th Annual Global Airport Development (GAD) conference gets under way in Barcelona, Spain on 07-Nov-2011, running through until 11-Nov. Last year’s event, in Dublin, was dominated by concerns about Irish and UK passenger taxes. This year the main talking point will undoubtedly be the postponed concession deal on the airports in Barcelona, where the event is being held (foresight or fortune?), and Madrid. But there will be plenty else to discuss as we attempt here to anticipate the main concerns.

BAA again forced to sell two airports

BAA once again finds itself forced to sell two of its remaining six airports as Britain’s Court of Appeal upheld and reinstated the Competition Commission’s (CC) decision from Mar-2009 that it must sell London Stansted Airport and either Glasgow or Edinburgh airports in Scotland. BAA’s original argument was that the sale of London Gatwick Airport had been ‘forced on it’ (though it took the decision to sell in advance of the formal announcement) at a bad time economically and that it did not want to repeat the exercise any time soon. The knock-on effect might be considerable as Ryanair ramps up its efforts to convince the Irish government to break up and sell off parts of the Dublin Airport Authority.

UK’s Newcastle and Cardiff airports seek long haul flights

Once it was short haul services that were in demand from UK’s regional airports, now it seems that the desire to avoid travelling via a hub has spread to the mid to long haul arena, as difficult as it may be to justify some of the proposed services. The latest airports to investigate the level of demand for long haul flights are Newcastle and Cardiff.