Spanish operator Aena has launched a creative campaign to highlight the key role played by airports. Titled “Un día sin aeropuertos” (“A day without airports”), the campaign includes a humorous short film (in Spanish) presenting an almost apocalyptic situation in which airports throughout Spain have “disappeared”.
Asking the question, “What would happen if one day airports disappeared”, the video shows a wedding without guests, a father unable to attend the birth of his son, and an ambulance driver transporting a transplant organ that cannot be sent to its destination. The message is that Aena plays an indispensable role in society through its airports.
Directed by Martin Jalfen (from the PRIMO production company), the film features a cameo appearance by flamboyant Spanish “showman” Javier Gurruchaga.
The campaign forms part of a wider brand awareness initiative by Aena, “Aeropuertos para ti” (“Airports for you”), created in collaboration with the McCann agency to highlight the aeronautic sector’s “positive” impact.
Part-owned by the Spanish state (51 per cent) through ENAIRE, Aena operates 46 airports and two heliports in Spain, while its subsidiary Aena International operates 15 other airports in Europe and the Americas.
In December 2017, the Spanish government officially awarded the airport management, operation and maintenance contract for Corvera Airport Murcia to Aena.
Aena closed 2022 with net profit of €901.5 million, compared with a loss of €475.4 million in 2021. This represented a recovery of 88.5 per cent in passenger traffic compared with 2019, the last year when COVID-19 did not have an impact. Compared with 2021, growth was 103.1 per cent, with a 58.2 per cent increase in domestic traffic and a 138.4 per cent increase in international traffic.
Officially announcing these figures on 28 February, Aena noted, “In view of the evolution of passenger data at the Spanish airports in recent months and after analysing the economic situation, Aena has revised upwards its passenger traffic estimate for the year 2023 to a range between 94 per cent and 104 per cent of the 2019 figures, compared with the initial forecast between 87 per cent and 97 per cent. The most statistically likely scenario is expected to be in the middle, with a 99 per cent recovery compared with 2019.”
Carry-on luggage restrictions at Spanish airports will be eased from 2024.