"Spanish airports ready to take off"

Thursday, October 31, 2002

Airports ready to take off
by Joshua Levitt
Madrid's Barajas is set to become a major international hub
United Kingdom - The London Financial Times


More than Euros 4bn is being invested almost to double the capacity of
Madrid's Barajas airport. The plan is for it to be capable of dealing
with a peak of 120 flights an hour and 70m passengers a year.

Designed to meet airport capacity until 2020, passenger and commercial
demand has greatly exceeded 1991 forecasts. Delays in the infrastructure
investment created chaos in 1997 and 1998 as demand doubled in the past
decade. Demand is now expected to double again over the next 15 years,
the public works ministry argues.

The growth will reinforce Madrid's position as an important hub for
flights to Latin America - 27 per cent of flights from Europe to the
region start in Madrid - as well as gain a share on North Atlantic
flights.

A new terminal, designed by Antonio Lamela and Richard Rogers, is being
built.

Two runways are being built to complement the existing pair, while an
old runway is being eliminated.

Other sites had been considered under a proposal to create a second
major metropolitan airport. But the time frame of 12 years - six for the
planning and approval process and six for construction - was considered
too long, threatening to open Barajas to another period of heavy
congestion.

Other Spanish airports are also undergoing major facelifts as part of
the same 2000-2007 infrastructure plan. About Euros 1.8bn is being
invested in a new runway and terminals at Barcelona's airport. Other
public investments in airports during 2000-2007 include Canary Islands
(Euros 1.47bn), Balearic Islands (Euros 283m), Malaga (Euros 251m),
Alicante (Euros 97m) and Euros 1.116bn on other centres.


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