On Friday afternoon the 10 million euro guarantee was deposited by airport management company Aena which now finalises their appointment as the Corvera airport concessionary company with Mariano Menor appointed director of the entire transition process that will culminate with the closure of San Javier to civil traffic and the opening of Corvera by the end of 2018.
At the same time the president and CEO of Aena, Jaime García-Legaz, confirmed that the 70 current Aena workers at San Javier airport will be transferred to a new position at Corvera, should they wish to move. All those with over 3 years employment will have their seniority guaranteed.
“The fact that we are going to transfer union members to the new airport is no cause for concern. It should provide peace of mind for the future of all Aena workers,” Garcia-Legaz said.
The Council of Ministers has also approved the creation of a management company by Aena, which will be the sole owner of shares. The president of Aena has described this decision as “good news because we are progressing at a good pace in the process that will see us to operatingt in this new international airport before much longer.”
Garcia-Legaz said that Corvera “is an airport that is 24 kilometres from San Javier and we will support workers who want to continue with us”, although Aena employees can also choose another airport, should they wish to do so, for their professional destination.
García-Legaz explained that at Corvera there will be more employment and more staff.” He also clarified that workers who move to Corvera “cannot continue to work legally for Aena, but for the new company, because the law requires that whoever manages the airport is a concessionaire, but there will be no difference between being part of the Aena staff or the concessionaire “.
The meeting attended by the staff delegates of the San Javier airport and the Works Committee did not included the 450 workers of the auxiliary companies. Although the Platform for the Airport of San Javier represents all employees they were not invited to the meeting that García-Legaz had with the Aena the employees.
The spokesman of the Platform, Santiago Pina, today expressed his concern “because we do not have any information, neither from Aena nor our own companies”. With the transfer, the question arises at to what Aena will do with the contracts that it has in force in San Javier, some of which still have several years outstanding.
The lack of information is what has contributed to the concern and uncertainty about the future of the 450 airport service workers, although the 70 Aena jobs have now been guaranteed.
