Private sector raises issues for forum talks
With “substantial progress” continuing to be made in the tripartite talks between Gibraltar, Spain and Britain (the so-called “trilateral forum”), agreement on the shared use of the airport could be reached as early as the end of April.

Through the MoD’s recent decision to increase landing charges by 8 per cent had been as much a surprise to him as it had to the airlines, Trade & Industry Minister Joe Holliday does not think it will affect Spain’s approach to sharing the airport, he told B2B. But it could affect hopes for a greater use of the airport- particularly by the budget airlines, he admitted.

Following the last round of MoD talks with Holliday, the commander of British Forces in Gibraltar Commodore Allan Adair stressed that the airport remained a military base which cost £10 million a year to run.

“We have to recoup some of that money,” he said at the time. “I am not here to run a civilian airport but to run a military airport… People must be aware of this but we will bend over backwards to help the Government of Gibraltar in their plans to increase use.”

If the MoD can be persuaded to reduce its high levels of charges for use of the facility, sharing with Spain eventually could lead to 30 or even 40 flights a day to and from the Rock. Lower landing and take-off charges could also rekindle the interest in the Rock as a destination of low-cost airlines such as EasyJet and Ryanair

Chief Minister Peter Caruana emerged from February talks at Chevening, the British Foreign Minister’s grace and favour country home, in bullish mood. And his optimism is echoed by Trade, Industry and Communications Minister Joe Holliday who told B2B:

“Good progress has been achieved in the trilateral forum on joint use of the airport – as well as other matters…and there’s a long list of things on the agenda – and the Chief Minister is optimistic that agreement on a variety of issues will be reached by the end of April.”

These included telephone numbering and the flow of traffic at the frontier as well as the airport question, and both he and the Chief Minister were “confident that we will see solutions soon.” However, “nothing will be agreed until all is agreed and any set-back on one of these main issues could affect the other issues,” Holliday warned.

“People should also remember that the tripartite forum is not just to resolve the four main issues – the airport, Spanish pensions, telephone numbering and frontier queues – it is an ongoing process and there will be other issues which are laid on the table in the future,” Holliday added.

The private sector in Gibraltar had raised other ideas and issues with him, and some of these were matters which would be addressed by the forum.

When sharing of the use of the airport – over Gibraltar which will still retain control – IS agreed a transitional period will be needed during which facilities would be upgraded to meet the anticipated demand. This would include switching the approach to the frontier and the airport buildings via a road under the airfield at the eastern end, he added.