Aena’s international airport network generated duty free revenue growth of +34.9% to €251m/$282m in 2015, with other shops up +17.8% to €82.3m/$92.5m and f&b rising +17% to €132.1m.

 

At the same time, the world’s leading airport operator (by passenger numbers) reported that total passengers at all airports grew by 5.9% to 207.4m with a 70/30 ratio in favour of international.

 

Last year was also the second-best traffic year ever after the 201.4m result in 2007. International traffic rose by +5.9%, while there was a recovery in domestic traffic with the sector +6.1%.

 

 

 

 

The proportion of international and domestic traffic remains stable at a 70/30 ratio, led by an increasing international passenger base (+5.9%) and a recovery of domestic traffic (+6.1%). [Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport has shown very strong traffic growth of 11.9% compared to 2014-Ed].

 

Total commercial revenues grew by 16.3% to €747.5m compared with aeronautical revenues of €2,387.6m (+3.6%). Aena said the main reasons for this strong performance reflects improved commercial contract terms, increased commercial space and improved layouts and the improved mix of brands.

 

In addition, Aena reported ‘off-terminal revenues’ of €172.2m (-0.1%) last year, covering other activities such as warehouse and hangar rentals etc.

 

 

Putting this all in perspective, the world’s biggest airports group also reported total revenues of €3,517.8m last year, with EBITDA standing at €2,082.0m and an EBITDA margin return of 59.2%.

 

Commercial income rose 13% at Luton Airport behind aeronautical income growth of 14.5%, thanks mainly to a good performance by shops and car parks, a rise in traffic and the introduction of better management and pricing strategies.

 

In its results statement, Aena pointed to the consolidation of Luton contributing with €201.9m in revenue and a7.2% increase in total operating expenses due to ongoing work at Luton.

 

 

Other operating expenses excluding Luton rose by +4.6% (+€34.4m), due principally to new security regulations since March 2015 (+€15m), the effect of the reversal of provisions for bad debts in 2014 (+€11.5m) and maintenance costs (+€8.9m).

 

Through its subsidiary company Aena Internacional also has management interests 16 airports abroad.

Turning to passenger traffic by carrier type, Aena said that its customers were split equally between LCCs and traditional carriers in 2015, compared with 49.1% for LCCs in 2014 and 50.9% traditional carriers.

 

Aena said: “The major airlines who are Aena customers are, on one hand, IAG Group (Iberia, Vueling, Iberia Express and British Airways) with a share of 25.9% out of total passenger traffic in 2015 (24.7% in 2014) and, on the other, Ryanair with a share of 17.0% (16.2% in 2014).”