GIBRALTAR AIR TERMINAL I PROFILE THE ROCK

wned by the UK Ministry of Defence, Airport is actu - “The passenger figures show that, depending on the season, ally a military airfield which became of strategic importance approximately 50% cross into , so there is clearly a market Oduring World War II. It was during this time that an actual there for our regular passengers using Gibraltar to go into transit ON A ROLL was built, with commercial traffic starting to come from the to their holiday homes in Spain,” explained Mr Lopez. United Kingdom shortly after the end of the conflict. In 2006 the governments of Spain, Gibraltar and the United Maximising resources Kingdom signed the Córdoba Agreement which, amongst other Gibraltar Airport is relatively small in size, with its catchment area things, lifted the ban on flights between Spain and Gibraltar; and on th e borderline with two larger airports in the vicinity, Málaga and Operated by the Government of Gibraltar, Gibraltar Air Terminal is for all at the same time, there was a commitment to build an air terminal Jerez. Despite this, it remains perfectly placed against its competitors that could serve not only Gibraltar but the area around it. with most of the airport’s business conducted in Gibraltar itself. intents and purposes a state-owned extension of the peninsula’s public This large, brand-new building opened for arrivals only in December “Jerez has its own business, and Málaga is far beyond what any 2011, before opening fully in 2012 to include departures, cargo and other airport in the area does,” noted Mr Lopez. “But it’s a different services. Although a relatively small airport in size compared to neigh - other ancillaries. type of tourism in Gibraltar that you won’t get in Málaga, which tends bouring Jerez and Malaga, it is designed to cater for more capacity and “We came from quite a small terminal to the much larger terminal we now see before us,” said Air Terminal Director Terence Lopez. is complemented in Gibraltar by its prosperous finance centre, off - The terminal now has three departure gates, its own separate gen - eral aviation wing and a cargo facility – even though most cargo that shore betting industry and successful port. There is, however, still a lot comes into Gibraltar does so by land. The Spanish Government have still yet to add a planned annex of potential for the airport to grow, particularly in the UK market. Jack to the terminal, meaning there is a large part of the building specifically geared for passengers arriving into the terminal and Salter spoke to Air Terminal Director Terence Lopez. crossing straight to the Spanish border. Although this is not cur - rently being utilised, Mr Lopez said it doesn’t affect daily opera - tions at all. GIBRALTAR AIR TERMINAL I PROFILE

to be holidays which are all-inclusive and hotel-based. Whereas the area near us tends to be more suited to visitors who own houses and timeshares in the area, so it’s a slightly different type of travel.” Mr Lopez explained how the airport is constantly trying to improve and make the maximum use of the resources it has. As it is owned and operated by the Government of Gibraltar, it is managed admin - istratively and financially like any other government department, meaning it is obliged to ensure that the public purse – which pays for some of the resources – is done so efficiently. And it is not just the Air Terminal that has received investment. The Government of Gibraltar is in the process of constructing a large, four-lane tunnel at the eastern end of the airport, with the view of diverting all its traffic underneath the runway. “One of the quaintest aspects of Gibraltar Airport is that we still have a road that runs across the runway,” said Mr Lopez. “People love walking across the runway or having pictures taken. It’s all done in a very safe and choreographed manner, but it has to stop eventually.” The airport will be closing off this aspect of the Gibraltar Airport As a result, 2018’s passenger numbers totalled 440,988 – down “We are small but I think we can grow a lot more, and adapt experience once the tunnel is eventually completed. from 571,184 in 2017 – with total aircraft movement reducing from our destination footprint to include areas like Scotland and Ireland,” 4,888 in 2017 to 3,868 last year. However, Mr Lopez said the airport explained Mr Lopez. “Opening the doors to Europe would be Positive passenger experience is recovering well and is optimistic about getting back to where it fan tastic, but I still think we have a lot of potential within the The passenger experience at Gibraltar Airport is very important, was before. UK market.” with the airport working hand-in-hand with partner organisations “We are showing 20% growth in the first quarter of 2019 compared Mr Lopez also believes that Gibraltar Airport will eventually expe - to provide a good service delivery. to last year, possibly due to the fact we have had good response from rience extra regional traffic from the likes of Morocco – the North “All the organisations involved help to ensure that our staff are the airlines that fly here and we are very grateful for that,” African country just 7.7 nautical miles away from The Rock across properly trained, and that our passengers get the benefit of that,” Mr Lopez said. the Strait of Gibraltar. Mr Lopez assured. “The fact we are living on an MOD airfield also “We are coming back to what we were before in the pre-Monarch “At the moment we have two flights a week routing Gibraltar - means that we have to have an excellent working relationship with days; the difference is we don’t have as many flights to the regions Tangiers - Casablanca, and there’s a big market out there that I the Ministry of Defence, who run the airfield, air traffic and the where I think we have a lot of potential. believe needs exploring. Casablanca is a major hub at the moment. other services. We work in partnership with them to ensure people “Whereas before we had eight weekly flights to Manchester, it’s He concluded: “I am optimistic about the future of the airport in flying to and from Gibraltar are getting the service they expect.” only four at the moment. is down to just two from five, and general and in obtaining some form of regional traffic. The reality Being an important part of Gibraltar’s national infrastructure, and we have lost the four times weekly summer link to Birmingham; is that there are millions of people travelling and aircraft are getting as it is owned by the Government, means that Gibraltar Airport is these destinations are quite popular here,” he added. safer, easier to use and more convenient. Gibraltar has always not treated as a separate entity as with other airports. Gibraltar is Accordingly, the airport is looking to expand its operations, punched above its weight and that is no different when it comes to air a destination within its own right – both for tourism and business particularly in the UK. travel. The message has to be that we are always open for business.” n purposes, not forgetting the historic link to the United Kingdom – so effectively all Government departments, businesses and commercial interests are all working towards the same goal – promoting Gibraltar and its airport. “We are happy to do this,” affirmed Mr Lopez. “We are in a posi - tion where the passengers that are in transit from Spain may not even enter all the way into Gibraltar, so I think it’s very important we show what Gibraltar is like in the hour and a half they spend at the terminal.” Rebuilding passenger numbers Gibraltar Airport was knocked back in 2017 after entered administration and ceased operations, leaving a 40% vacuum in the airport’s business.