Operating a flight to Granada is 50 per cent cheaper than Madrid and 37 per cent less than one to Malaga

This issue has come to light following Ryanair’s recent statements acknowledging its interest in expanding its services in Spain, although it called for changes to the way costs are structured. The airline’s CEO, Eddie Wilson, called the Spanish airport operator AENA a monopoly and questioned the fact that it allocates 80 per cent of its profits to its shareholders.

He also criticised a system that means cities like Madrid and Barcelona have full airports, while smaller ones have "empty" ones. “All we need to do is adjust the prices,” Wilson said. AENA, the body responsible for airport management in Spain, is in charge of setting the fees, which vary depending on the number of passengers passing through the facilities each year. There are all kinds of charges: some are levied on landings and passenger traffic; others, for example, on the provision of security measures or general passenger transport services.

However, differences between airports mean that at some destinations, such as Granada, certain charges do not have to be paid. This is the case, for example, with the charge for the use of bridges for boarding or disembarking passengers from aircraft. This is because the airport is unable to offer this service.

Information on service charges and costs is compiled monthly in a report published by AENA. This sets out the nature of the charges, the method of calculation and the cost broken down by airport. The latest document to be made public relates to this very month of August and reveals that operating a commercial flight in Granada is much cheaper than doing so at other airports in the country.

According to calculations based on the data, operating a flight to or from Federico García Lorca Airport is 52.29 per cent cheaper than doing so from Madrid. The differences are also significant when compared with other major cities. Operating from Granada costs 48 per cent less than doing so from Barcelona. When compared with Malaga and Seville, the figures are also in Granada’s favour, at 37 per cent and 28 per cent less respectively.

To arrive at these figures, only those charges and services that affect commercial flights and vary in price depending on the airport are taken into account. Others, such as those funding services used by airlines – including weather services, passenger assistance, charging points for electric vehicles used during boarding, and the presence of fire crews – are excluded because they do not vary from city to city.

One of the taxes where there are notable differences is the landing and transit tax, which is levied on aircraft and passengers using the facilities. The charge levied by AENA for landing in Granada is 5.002 euros per tonne of the aircraft’s weight. The minimum charge per operation is 11.77 euros. These amounts are 26 per cent and 38 per cent cheaper than in Seville and Malaga respectively. The difference compared with Barcelona is 41 per cent. Compared with Madrid, which is the most expensive, the difference is 48 per cent.

The charge for handling services at Granada Airport is 2,288 euros per tonne, with a minimum of 5.69 euros per operation. In terms of this charge, Federico García Lorca Airport is also cheaper. The difference compared with Seville is 21 per cent, with Malaga it is 28 per cent, and with Barcelona and Madrid it is 29 per cent.

Another charge they levy, which varies between airports, is the one used to fund all the facilities used by passengers, such as terminals, platforms and runways. This charge also covers passenger and baggage screening and control services, as well as the relevant resources and equipment.

It is calculated per passenger and distinguishes between flights within the European Economic Area and international flights. AENA has set the charge in Granada at 3.57 euros per passenger, 28 per cent less than in Seville and 38 per cent cheaper than in Malaga. The difference is even greater compared with Barcelona and Madrid, at 72 per cent and 74 per cent less than in those two cities respectively.

The catering service must also be paid for by the airlines. This charge is included in the fee covering ground handling services and is payable depending on the aircraft’s country of origin, whether it is from the European Economic Area or an international destination. In Granada, the cost for the former is 10 euros per aircraft, if it falls into the first category, or 16.65 per aircraft if it is from outside the European Union.

In terms of this tax, Granada is 29 per cent cheaper than Seville and 46 per cent cheaper than Malaga. The difference compared with Barcelona is 49 per cent and with Madrid 64 per cent, in favour of the city named after Federico García Lorca.

The same applies to the provision of self-service check-in machines or the hire of retail counters. In the first case, Granada’s costs are 27 per cent lower than those in Seville, Malaga, Madrid and Barcelona. In the second case, the premises in Granada are 40 per cent cheaper than those in the capital of Andalucía and cost half as much as in the other three cities.

In this context, Granada, which had routes operated by Ryanair between 2005 and 2010, appears to be better suited to the requirements of this type of airline, which values a lower tax burden. It also offers a package of incentives approved by AENA to support aerodromes with fewer than 3.5 million passengers a year that have not yet returned to their pre-pandemic figures. All of this puts Granada airport in a favourable position for the future.

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