Neither the serious problems that travellers endure due to the permanent strikes at Barcelona airport, nor the disastrous management of Vueling airlines -which is of great importance in the air traffic of the main Catalan aerodrome- are managing to stop the growth of the airport. For the first time in its history, it has reached 30 million passengers in the first seven months of the year. What would be the roof of the airport performance with a management -private or public- designed to develop its enormous potential?
Because the fact remains that no other Spanish airport has been subjected to as many problems as the Barcelona-El Prat airport -now renamed Josep Tarradellas- has. All their employment-related problems have affected it more than any other, all issues related to air traffic controllers have had more impact on it than on any other city, the same as with all security issues, whether they are controlling passports or controlling passengers. All these have made of Barcelona the permanent target. These days, without going any further, the security guards strike continues, and only the minimal draconian services are preventing the infrastructure from becoming a real chaos.
The sustained growth that is taking place in the segment of international travellers, which have added more than 22 million passengers -a 5.5% increase- in the first seven months of the year, is important. The connections with the United States, Canada and the Asian continent from Barcelona have been expanded in recent months and there are good expectations for 2020.
All of this will not get consolidated without a Copernican change by Aena and a permanent monitoring by the Catalan government and the Barcelona’s Chamber of Commerce. There are too many impediments on the road and centrality issues that for one reason or another always end up giving priority to Madrid Barajas airport. A good rate of passenger numbers can be much improved with a different decision model, and this should be the goal.