An airport to advance

The expansion of the Prat airport is already being discussed without reaching an agreement that is possible. Now, if everything goes as planned, the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, will present an extension plan to finally unblock the project. The objective, which the Barcelona City Council highlights, is clear: to connect the city with the main socioeconomic centers of the world.

The three executives – central, regional and local –, the airlines and the business community consider it a priority to expand the infrastructure, to the limit of their capacity, to ensure competitiveness and intercontinental flights, with special attention to Asia. Also the shareholders of Aena, who see the Prat as a profitable joy along the way to explore.

El Prat breaks the record for intercontinental passatgers l'any passat

The commission that studies the future of the airport has put forward a proposal, which will be made official on its own, which seeks to raise technical, economic, environmental and political criteria. The option that has been put on the taula is to lengthen the third runway – the enlairaments – by 500 meters, as Aena will initially propose. Now, the extension has less impact on the Ricarda because it will begin more to the west, from the Remolar area. In this way, we try not to affect the llacuna of the Ricarda protected area, converted into an environmental symbol against expansion. This route would also require the approval of Brussel·les to enter the Natura 2000 xarxa.

In a forum organized by La Vanguardia this week, the president of Aena, Maurici Lucena, is going to show himself open to introducing some details to the project, as will finally happen. “We are willing to admit matisos,” says Llavors. It is a similar idea that the committee of experts on the airport of the Barcelona City Council will point to tomorrow. In their report, they bet on a “compromise solution” that would allow the sea runway to be lengthened but not touch the llacuna. Furthermore, the committee, chaired by former Minister Santi Vila, demanded to resolve the requirements set by the EU.

Prat de Llobregat Airport Extension of the third runway for long-distance flight training

1 In the absence of an agreement The initial investment stood at 1,700 million euros, considering that both inflation could reach 2,000 million 1,700 MILIONS

Qualifying the extension will involve an important package of environmental compensations to obtain permits. The opinion of the Barcelona City Council insists that it comply with both the environmental commitments pending from the previous enlargement. Furthermore, underline that it is time to address the new compensations prior to the next extension. Among the actions to be taken, the improvement of the status of humid areas or the renaturalization of certain areas surrounding the airport stand out.

Extending the third runway allows the most long-distance airplanes to measure – the wide-body names – are located on the Prat while maintaining the segregated runways, both one to enlairar-se and another to terrify, avoiding further sowing over the neighboring towns. The expansion includes a satellite terminal and improvements in the connections between T1 and T2. All this would entail an investment that could exceed 2,000 million euros, but over 1,700 million that is initially proposed, as a result of inflation.

In this way, more airlines are expected to operate routes between continents without congesting the airport, at the limit of the capacity to fly – by 2024 there will be more than 55 million passengers. In fact, El Prat has set a new record for intercontinental travelers, increasing the share they represent with respect to the last total.

More than 3.9 million long-distance passengers will pass through the Barcelona terminals, 22.4% more than in 2023 and, the most important, 9% more than in 2019, the previous maximum recorded. It covers 50 intercontinental destinations, among which the State Units stand out.

The port of Barcelona Expansion of road and railway access to improve infrastructure

2​ A new highway from Cornellà and Iberian and international roads ends inside the port Distributed between the Ministry of Transport, Adif and the Port of Barcelona 730 MILIONS Entry fees and more competitive sorting for the port

The intense maritime movement that the port of Barcelona registers requires land accompaniment at altitude, with a large intermodal terminal that facilitates the loading and unloading of containers. Our new road and railway accesses have to resolve a deficit that has been going on for 30 years and has only begun to become reality after several years and years. The three administrations involved (Ministry of Transport, Adif and Port of Barcelona) have signed financial commitments, budgeting 730 million to be distributed equally between the three parties. As it turns out, the executed project is in the final drafting phase. The next and final step will be the tender for works of high technical complexity. The little space that is available between the Llobregat river, on the one hand, and the ships of the Free Trade Zone, on the other, will be profited to the maximum by using a formula similar to a sandvitx. The existing metric wide roads will be housed in a lower level dedicated to the international wide roads connected to the Mediterranean corridor and the upper part destined for the new highway. Once the clubs started, three anys would be extended with a minimum. Because the terms are complex, since famous people have already begun the planned tasks, which include named deviations from canons, collectors and cablatge of all men. Apart from the accesses, the Port Authority has activated various projects worth more than 330 million. The most notable ones are the concentration of the activity of believers at the Adossat moll and the electrification plan because the vaixells are powered by electricity when they are moored. | David Guerrero