Spain's Aena net profit up 10.5% after airline passenger traffic grows
Spanish airport operator Aena 's first-half net profit rose 10.5 per cent from the same period a year ago, it said on Wednesday, boosted by increased passenger traffic in the world's second-most visited country after France.Aena, the world's largest airport operator in terms of passenger numbers, made a net profit of €893.8 million ($1.03 billion) in the first six months of the year, just below the €904.2 million average of analysts' forecasts in an LSEG survey.Passenger traffic increased 4.5 per cent year-on-year, with 150.6 million passengers passing through Aena's terminals in Spain during the first six months of the year, helping to boost the company's revenues by 9 per cent to €2.9 billion.The company also reported traffic growth of over 5 per cent at the airports it operates in Brazil and Britain.At Spanish airports, Aena said that international traffic increased 6.5 per cent in the first half of the year, while domestic traffic rose 0.4 per cent.Around 59 per cent of passengers arrived from Europe. Ryanair, the airline with the largest market share at 22 per cent, carried 6 per cent more passengers during this period. The number of tourists to Spain has provoked opposition from some local residents, causing the authorities to seek to ease the strain, while continuing to reap the economic benefits. Although Spain expects to break last year's record of 94 million international tourists, the country's new strategy involves attracting foreign tourists to places other than Spain's most popular beaches. It is also seeking to appeal to more long-haul tourists, who tend to spend more.Aena's commercial revenues grew by 10 per cent, driven by rents from duty-free shops, car rentals and passenger lounge services. Its income from flight-related businesses rose by 6 per cent. Aena has approved a 6.5 per cent increase in fees next year for airlines that will have to pay a maximum of €11.03 per passenger as the company aims to partly fund the expansion of the main airports in Madrid and Barcelona to accommodate more flights from Asia and the Americas.
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