Spain’s unified tack offers Korea’s divided network different path toward shared competitiveness
Angel Sanz, Aena’s director of regulation and public policy, speaks during a media event at Madrid-Barajas Airport in Madrid on Thursday. (Im Se-jun/The Korea Herald)
Korea Herald correspondent
MADRID, Spain — For decades, Spain has run its airports as a single national enterprise, turning regional gateways into tourism hubs and building the world’s largest airport operator by passenger volume.
Founded 35 years ago ahead of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, state-backed airport operator Aena now manages 46 airports and two heliports in Spain, as well as 35 airports overseas. In 2025, the group handled a record 384.8 million passengers worldwide, including 321.6 million in Spain alone
Its strength lies not in a handful of marquee hubs but in the collective performance of its network, where larger airports share expertise, airline relationships and investment capacity with smaller gateways, according to the operator.
“The temporary deficit of one airport is not something we view in isolation,” said Angel Sanz, Aena’s director for strategy and public policies, speaking at a media briefing at Madrid-Barajas Airport on Thursday. “The entire network collaborates to support it. The objective is that every airport develops together.”
The model is built around territorial cohesion, with particular emphasis on island and regional communities where air connectivity is essential. Spain welcomed a record 96.8 million foreign visitors in 2025 and remained the world’s second-most visited country.
Sanz pointed to Jerez Airport in southern Spain as a telling example. Once viewed as a peripheral gateway, it benefited from congestion at larger airports and from Aena’s coordinated efforts to market secondary destinations to international carriers.
“When larger gateways reached capacity, we promoted Jerez as a viable alternative,” Sanz said. “Today, it stands as a successful example of how a smaller airport can become competitive.”
The same logic shapes Aena’s dealings with airlines.
Ignacio Biosca, Aena’s chief data officer and airline market director, said the company markets its network as a whole rather than negotiating airport by airport and encourages airlines to serve smaller destinations through targeted incentives.
In practice, that means new routes receive discounts while off-season and island operations get additional support, all aimed at making regional services commercially viable year-round.
“All airports operate in a free market,” Biosca said. “The question is not obligation. It is how to communicate the value of each airport and create incentives that allow airlines to operate sustainably at lower cost.”
Aena executives credited the success of airports to close coordination with government bodies and tourism authorities.
At the center of this framework sits DORA, Spain’s five-year regulatory blueprint governing airport investment, charges, service quality and capacity planning. The upcoming DORA III plan, covering 2027 through 2031, calls for roughly 13 billion euros ($14.8 billion) in investment, including upgrades at 17 airports facing capacity constraints.
Aena has also taken its integrated model abroad, taking with it the shared standards and technical know-how built across Spain’s integrated airport network to markets such as Britain and Brazil, the operator said.
Aircraft are parked at the gates of Terminal 4 of Madrid-Barajas Airport in Madrid. (Im Se-jun/ The Korea Herald)
The discussion is particularly relevant for Korea, where policymakers have debated closer coordination among publicly operated airports without embracing privatization.
A merger of three airport-related entities — Incheon International Airport Corp., Korea Airports Corporation and Gadeokdo New Airport Construction Authority — is under active debate.
KAC operates 14 airports nationwide, excluding Incheon Airport, the country’s largest aviation hub. Incheon handled 74.07 million passengers in 2025, while Jeju and Gimpo recorded 29.53 million and 22.96 million, respectively.
Supporters argue that a one-operator model could improve regional airport management, streamline policymaking and reduce overlapping investments, while enabling a national airport operator to compete more effectively on the global stage. Skeptics warn it could dilute Incheon’s financial strength by forcing it to absorb regional losses and new capital demands.
Sanz dismissed suggestions that a unified public model necessarily undermines local autonomy, encouraging Korean policymakers to study European precedents rather than treating integration as an experiment fraught with risk.
“Korea can take the best elements of these models and create its own success story,” Sanz said. “If the Spanish case is not enough, Frankfurt and Paris operate under very similar principles. They are useful references as Korea considers its next steps.”
Ownership, Sanz noted, can take different forms. Aena remains 51 percent state-owned through Enaire, while Britain’s Heathrow is fully privatized. In either case, the crucial question is whether airports operate as isolated assets or as parts of a coordinated system, he added.
Passengers move through Terminal 4 of Madrid-Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain. (Im Se-jun/ The Korea Herald)
minmin@heraldcorp.com