There has been much talk recently about the privatisation of the control tower at Malaga International Airport but, the most recent update is that the tower will not yet be privatised. Both Aena (the largest airport operator in Spain) and the Ministry of Transport were both keen to move forward with the idea, but for now it is on hold.
The news came as some relief to the air traffic controllers and were thankful that congress voted against the suggested privatisation of the control towers in Malaga, Tenerife North and South, Gran Canaria, Bilbao, Santiago-Rosalía de Castro and Palma de Mallorca. Alicante already has a private control tower and has done for the last 9 years.
Those voting against the motion in congress included Vox, with the PP and Ciudadanos abstaining from the vote. Those in favour and who originally proposed the privatisation were PSOE, EH Bildu, Esquerra Republicana and BNG.
In order to move it forward the motion will now require a debate in Congress and will involve both political and public scrutiny. This will almost likely mean it could drag on for years so it was decided that for the time being, the proposal and motion is best put on the back burner.
It was reported that Malaga in particular could lose a quality of service if it was privatised and although one of the benefits promoted was a potential reduction in air fares, it was deemed unlikely this would actually be realised by the public buying tickets.