Aena Looks To Build Airport Hotels

AENA is launching plans to build hotels on land it owns adjoining Madrid-Barajas, Barcelona-El Prat, Malaga-Costa del Sol, Valencia and Sevilla.

Last year, Aena’s commercial division contributed €1.243 billion, 29.4 per cent of its total earnings, compared with €2.418 billion from its airports activities.

First, however, before the project begins, the publicly-owned Spanish multinational intends to select a consultant to devise a strategy and business model to develop the future hotels over the next three years.

Deloitte Financial, Catella Property, CBRE Real Estate, Horwath HTL and Savills España are currently in the running for the €1.26 billion contract.  One of its conditions will prevent the chosen company from taking part in the project’s subsequent phases with the future developers.

Aena is looking for advice on the workings of the tourism sector and business travel plus an in-depth analysis of accommodation tendencies and needs in areas adjoining Spain’s airports. It will also ask for a breakdown of the best type of offer to guarantee commercial and financial viability.

Outside help from a hotel industry specialist will be vital in drafting the contract conditions for developing Aena’s land, choosing associates and assessing offers, emphasised sources quoted in financial daily, Cinco Dias.

Aena also wants detailed information regarding the probable income per room in its future hotels, average length of stay, occupancy figures and potential rivals within a 10-kilometre radius.

The consultants will also be expected to study the Spanish hotels market and, if necessary, carry out local analyses.

The company’s 2022-2026 strategy plan foresees that by the end of this period, commercial income will have grown by 23 per cent compared with 2019, bringing at least a 12 per cent increase per passenger.  By this time an annual 315 million passengers will be using the entire network of Aena airports, compared with 275 million in the period before the travel restrictions introduced during the pandemic.