The 100 abandoned planes in Spanish airports: a million-dollar hole that cannot be solved even by giving them away

A group of 95 abandoned aircraft have been deteriorating due to corrosion for more than a decade at several Spanish airports.. Although the amount has decreased from 127 in 2020, a joint debt of 6.86 million euros in airport fees has been generated for AENA.

At a time when space at airports is especially valued, the airport manager is trying to get rid of these planes to the point of having asked for 0 euros for some of these aircraft, a potential bargain with a trick, since the winner of The bid must cover the costs of towing the plane out of the airport, which can exceed 60,000 euros.

The case has come to the fore due to a question sent to the corporation by Fabián Chinea, senator of La Gomera of the Confederal Left Parliamentary Group. The representative has asked specifically about an emblematic case, that of the McDonnell Douglas MD-87 aircraft, which has been lying at the Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport since November 2010.. Operated by SAICUS AIR, the airline entered bankruptcy, leaving the aircraft in the hands of its current owner, Promerca Cargo Internacional. Despite being seized and in the process of being auctioned, the unknown persists as to when it will be released from its parking lot, according to the Government's response to the question, since the bid is in preparation.

The senator's investigation has also shed light on the complex process that AENA has to follow to get rid of these aircraft.. The company is obliged to publish three edicts in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), on three different dates for three consecutive months to locate the owner of the abandoned vehicle.

If a year later, there has been no claim, the procedures begin to organize a public auction for the sale of the aircraft.. The operation is not simple, since the time the plane has been stranded affects its subsequent state.. In fact, many times, the companies that bid in these auctions only want to dismantle the plane and sell it for scrap or some of its parts.

Another alternative suggested by the senator is the transfer of them to cultural or university institutions, however, AENA has not received any proposal from an entity of these characteristics and in many cases the ownership of the plane complicates the process.