News: Valencia Airport Confirms Expansion Plans
Flights > News > # 354 (23/03/2005)
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[Continuation from News Article #352]
Where do you see Valencia airport in 10 years time – what are your long-term expansion plans?
At the moment, we are working on expanding the existing terminal. We are also looking to extend the runway from 2700 m to 3200 m. At the moment, we can offer flights to the USA, but we are very restricted in the types of aircraft we can operate, and in the destinations we can serve.
We have secured the land to be able to construct a second parallel runway, although this will not be needed for many years to come.
How is this expansion funded? Would privatisation ever be a possibility for Spanish airports?
At the moment, almost all Spanish airports are operated by AENA, who might be the equivalent of your British airports authority (BAA). They are not likely to be privatised under the current government, but there are private airports being constructed in places such as Ciudad Real and Castellon.
Do you think this might be a problem in terms of encouraging competition?
We do not think that the Spanish aviation industry is a closed shop like you might see in a country such as France. We are already able to attract a wide range of scheduled, charter and no-frills flights into Spain from many countries across Europe, and this is likely to continue to grow in the coming years.
Would an airline like Continental be interested in offering flights from New York to Valencia?
There are many markets we might consider, but perhaps more important are the links between Spain and Latin America, and with Caribbean destinations such as Cuba and Puerto Rico. We will also hope that our runway extension would enable us to bring in more charter flights from the USA and the Caribbean, as we offer an ideal transfer point to board Mediterranean cruises.
How about surface access?
We do have a bus (Metrobus / Fernanbus #150) which operates every 12 minutes from outside the terminal, but this takes around 45 minutes to reach the city centre. The buses operated by the ETM Valencia transport authority.
Are there any plans to offer an express bus from Valencia airport to the city centre?
Not at present
How about the train?
There is a railway station, called
And when will the metro arrive at Valencia airport?
It is currently under construction, and is expected to open in late 2006, or early 2007. This is an extension of line 5, and should make it possible to reach the city centre in around 25 minutes.
Thank you very much your time
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