The Spanish management company Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea (Aena), owner of most of the public Iberian airports, communicated the economic data for the first half-year: net profit more than doubled to 608 million Euros (277 million in the same period last year), thanks to the 144 million passengers transited. The performance marks +5% on 2019, before the pandemic devastated the sector.

Aena's board of directors also decided this week that starting from March 2024 it will increase airport fares per passenger by +4%. A decision motivated by the need to cover higher costs due to inflation and electricity prices.

Meanwhile, returning to the quarterly economic data, the company communicated that the total revenues deriving from the commercial spaces in the airport reached 715.3 million euros (+29% on 2022), while sales in duty-free shops rose by +13.5% compared to 2019. Finally, Aena has renewed the contracts of the duty-free shops in all Spanish airports which foresee an increase in revenues of +16.3% for the full year 2023.