How much do air traffic controllers earn in Spain in 2025: basic salary and allowances?

Summer is one of the seasons with the highest air traffic volume, when the good weather offers a great opportunity for travelling.

Airports operate at full capacity at this time of year and for everything to work properly the job of the air traffic controller is essential. These professionals are responsible for maintaining the safe distance between aircraft, managing the flow of air traffic and optimising the use of airspace, among other functions.

The salary of air traffic controllers always arouses a lot of interest, especially at this time of year when passengers are much more sensitive to any incidents.

The latest air traffic controllers' agreement came into force on 11 August 2023 and will remain in force until 31 December 2027. This agreement does not specify the salary for 2025, although it does indicate the salary for 2023, which will be adjusted in subsequent years in accordance with the provisions of the law on general state budgets.

It should be noted that the salaries of controllers are not unique and they depend on several factors as well as on the person's functions. For example, in addition to controllers, there are supervisors, room managers, route controllers, division managers or unit managers. There are also different job allowances, dependency groups and other factors such as residence, productivity, overtime, etc. In order to find out how much a particular air traffic controller is paid, it would be necessary to know all the individual data and apply certain formulas.

According to the salary tables in the document, a controller would receive an annual basic salary of 22,795.64 euros plus an annual post allowance of 86,083.80 euros plus seniority level, professional level and other allowances.

Different exam prep academies also provide estimates of air traffic controllers’ salaries. For example, 'Examen ATC' points out that the usual range of salaries goes from 34,700 to more than 100,000 euros gross per year. Per month, this can be between 2,800 and 7,000 euros. "The average with experience is around 100,000 euros gross/year with post, seniority and productivity bonuses."

Controllers' salaries also depend on whether they work for the air navigation service provider (Enaire) or for a privately run tower, as well as on the location.

For example, the Madrid and Barcelona towers are the ones with the highest volume and workload, so their controllers can earn between 50,000 and 130,000 euros per year, depending on their category and seniority. At smaller airports in Aragón or Castilla y León, salaries can be between 34,000 and 80,000 euros gross per year.

Salaries are considerably reduced in private companies. For example, in Madrid they can be between 35,000 and 55,000 euros gross per year. Air traffic controllers can be military, although in these cases their salaries depend on the hierarchy within the Army.