ENAIRE, a public entity under the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, will promote the transfer of the current Balearic Islands Control Centre from Palma de Mallorca airport to the Son Bonet aerodrome. ENAIRE's infrastructure transfer project will not affect the control tower, whose personnel will continue to operate from the current location at AENA airport facilities.
The transfer project will allow ENAIRE to expand and modernise its Control Centre in the Balearic Islands, to provide it with the most advanced air navigation technology, and to deploy a new contingency room physically separated from the current facilities, with the aim of increasing the resilience of its services.
The technology and operational upgrades to ENAIRE'S premises will provide efficient air transport management and slot scheduling, and reduce the centre's environmental impact. Furthermore, the upgrading of ENAIRE's facilities in the Balearic Islands will guarantee compliance with the current energy efficiency regulations for its premises.
The choice of the Son Bonet aerodrome for the transfer of the Balearic Islands Control Centre will allow AENA to continue its expansion and remodelling work at Palma de Mallorca airport, due to the fact that the project also puts special focus on efficient accesses to the infrastructure, which houses the current Balearic Islands Control Centre, and the land and accesses to the same are now classified as “security restricted areas.”
Optimisation of resources and infrastructures
ENAIRE has chosen to transfer its Control Centre in the Balearic Islands after a detailed analysis of different options, in which the optimisation of public resources and their infrastructures has taken precedence. The need for efficient direct access points for the services of the Palma Control Centre required major investments which, in the long term, would have been inefficient. This is even more apparent given the limitations of the ENAIRE location within the airport enclosure, and the undergoing construction of the extension to the AENA facilities.
After the assessment of possible scenarios for the transfer, Son Bonet was found to be the most efficient, sustainable and forward-looking alternative, and the most beneficial for both ENAIRE and AENA. This decision will materialise through the preparation of the corresponding construction and facilities projects that will enable the optimised use of the equipment and facilities.
The process of transferring the Control Centre from Palma to Son Bonet airport will not affect the provision of the service, although ENAIRE and AENA personnel will share the accesses to the airport facilities until the transfer is finalised. Both organisations are working on a transition plan to ensure that the streamlined move towards full operational availability of the new site is completed as quickly as possible.
This investment reinforces the commitment of the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility to strengthening the safety and quality of the airport service, sustainability, and efficiency. These are the pillars of air transport and which, in the case of the Balearic Islands, are of major importance due to their role in the Island's national and international tourism industry.
