news

Menorca airport remote tower faces halt after MPs' vote

Responsible for this content: Frank Menze

Menorca Airport’s planned remote control tower faces a push to stop it for good: MPs want a new tower at the airport instead. On Tuesday, 29 September, the Spanish Congress’s Transport Committee backed a proposal from Sumar calling for the change. PSOE, PP, BNG and ERC supported it; Junts abstained and Vox voted against.

Archivo - Una torre de control en el Aeropuerto de Barcelona-El Prat, a 19 de noviembre de 2021, en El Prat de Llobregat, Barcelona, Catalunya (España).
Europa Press

The vote does not itself halt the project. Sumar’s non-binding motion calls on the government to take steps with Aena and Enaire to stop the remote-tower plan and build a new control tower on site. It also calls for enough air traffic controllers and air navigation maintenance technicians to meet the airport’s needs and applicable rules.

Sumar says the existing tower has serious structural problems that are getting worse. It describes Aena’s investment in the building as a stopgap and says the tower contains fibre-cement panels with asbestos. Sumar argues that the remote tower cannot be brought into use soon and warns that problems with the current tower could disrupt airport operations, with serious social and economic consequences for Menorca.

Topics: Culture · Politics

Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com