Enaire or AENA is the air navigation manager in Spain, certified for the provision of enroute, approach and aerodrome control services. As a public corporate entity attached to the Spanish Ministry of Public Works, it is responsible for air traffic control, aeronautical information and the communication, navigation and surveillance networks so air companies and their aircraft can fly safely and in an organised format within Spanish airspace.
By volume of air traffic, ENAIRE is the fourth largest air navigation service provider in Europe, with approximately 2 million flights per year. ENAIRE manages 2.2 million km2 of airspace from five air control centres and 21 control towers.
ENAIRE controls a complex airspace of over 2,000,000 km2, including one continental area and oceanic area. It also handles flights entering Europe from America and Africa, as Spain is the port of entry linking traffic from these destinations with Europe, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. ENAIRE adapts to the seasonal nature of air traffic in Spain, where there is a considerably larger number of flights during the summer months. Spain is recorded to have the third-largest number of tourists in the world.
ENAIRE participates in projects of the European Union related to the implementation of the Single European Sky, such as the group A6[2] and the European joint undertaking iTEC (with Indra and the air navigation providers NATS (United Kingdom), DFS[3] (Germany), LVNL (Netherlands), Avinor (Norway), PANSA (Poland) and Oro Navigacija (Lithuania).[4] ENAIRE is also a full member of CANSO.
ENAIRE owns 51%[5] of the capital of AENA S.A., the world's largest airport manager, with a network of 78 airports and 2 heliports. These include Madrid-Barajas, Barcelona-El Prat, Palma de Mallorca and Málaga-Costa del Sol. This network records more than 384 million passengers per year.[6] In addition, AENA S.A. participates in the management of 15 further airports in Brazil, Colombia, Jamaica, Mexico and the United Kingdom.[7]
Duties
Under the Act 09/2010, ENAIRE is the company designated by the State for the supply of air traffic services in the en-route and approach phases.
ENAIRE performs the following air navigation functions: ENAIRE provides air navigation services using the following equipment and installations: ENAIRE performs the national and international operational coordination of the Spanish air traffic management network through efficient airspace management, taking into account respect for the environment and the needs of users.
These services are provided from the five regional directorates of ENAIRE: Centre-North, East, South, Canary Islands and Balearic Islands, whose headquarters lie respectively in the control centres (ACC) of Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Gran Canaria and Palma de Mallorca.
- The planning, management, coordination, operation, maintenance and administration of air traffic, the services of telecommunications and aeronautical information, as well as the infrastructure, facilities and communications networks of the air navigation system. The aim is to ensure that the aircraft moving around Spanish airspace obtain the utmost security, fluidity, efficiency and punctuality.
- The preparation and approval of different kinds of projects, as well as the implementation and management of investment control.
- Evaluation of the needs and proposals for new infrastructure, as well as possible modifications to the structure of the airspace.
- Participation in specific aeronautical training, subject to the concession of official licenses.
History
In 1958, under the Act of 26 December 1958, the National Airports Executive was created as a corporation of public law of an autonomous nature, attached to the Air Ministry, which, as a consequence of the Act of 26 December 1958, on the Juridical Regime for Autonomous State Entities, became the Autonomous National Airport Authority (OAAN).
As a consequence of the Air Navigation Act, the OAAN was created, attached to the Air Ministry and dependent on the Subsecretariat for Civil aviation. In 1963 the Subsecretariat for Civil aviation was created within the Air Ministry (still a military authority), to which the OAAN was attached.
Spain signed an agreement with Eurocontrol as an associate state in 1972. The Autonomous National Airport Authority, dependent upon the Air Ministry, signed a convention with Eurocontrol in consideration for the use of the Air Navigation Facilities Network.
In 1977, the creation of the Ministry for Transport and Communications entailed the integration of the Subsecretariat for Civil Aviation into the national civil service.
In 1982 the disappearance of the Subsecretariat for Civil Aviation gave place to the creation of the General Directorate for Civil Aviation (DGAC), which took on the legislative and regulatory powers, as well as those of air navigation. OAAN became part of the Ministry for Transport, Tourism and Communications).
Creation of the public entity Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea (AENA)
Under the Royal Decree 905/1991, of 14 June, the statute of the public entity
Subsidiaries
AENA
ENAIRE owns 51% of AENA (Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea), a network of 78 airports and 2 heliports in Spain and abroad.[7] AENA operates all the airports of public interest in Spain and some air bases on a mixed basis with the Armed Forces. Also worth noting are Ceuta Heliport and Algeciras Heliport, the only heliports of the network.
Ineco
As of this writing ENAIRE holds 45.85% of public shares in INECO ("Transport Engineering and Economics") with the remainder of the shares distributed between Renfe Operadora (12.78%) and Adif (41.37%). INECO specialises in conducting studies and projects linked to the transport and telecommunications sector. Created more than forty years ago, it has participated in all the major infrastructure projects for airports, railways and roads undertaken in Spain and many others internationally.
Crida
See also
- Aeronautical Information Service
- Aviation safety
- Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation
- Eurocontrol
- List of airports in Spain
External links
References
- Annual Report 2024 ENAIRE, retrieved 4 July 2025^
- Enlarged A6 Alliance renews SESAR commitment - Air Traffic Management - Air Traffic Management – ATM and CMS Industry online, the latest air traffic control industry, CAA, ANSP, SESAR and NEXTGEN news, events, supplier directory and magazine www.airtrafficmanagement.net, 11 March 2022^
- DFS takes the helm at A6 Alliance - Air Traffic Management - Air Traffic Management – ATM and CMS Industry online, the latest air traffic control industry, CAA, ANSP, SESAR and NEXTGEN news, events, supplier directory and magazine