The latest in the long running saga of Corvera:
AS FURTHER proof that there is little love lost between San Javier and Corvera airports, this week staff at San Javier said: "Workers of San Javier will not go to your private airport, now or ever." The message came from the chairman of the council of Aena, Peter Blaya, with the statement aimed directly at the posturing and propaganda from Alberto Garre. Garre, the regional president on Tuesday announced to the Regional Assembly that all workers from San Javier Aena, totalling about 530 between employees and auxiliary companies, will be relocated to the aerodrome of Corvera.
Blaya strongly criticized this intervention, because, according to the union official, "not one word catered to reality." Blaya, as an example of this lack of Garre’s sense of reality as regional president noted: "he has already stated that on April 2nd he would open Corvera, when there was no airport operator and the airfield itself was not finished," or when he indicated that Corvera would be able to be used by an Airbus 380, a plane "that only fits in Barajas and El Prat," as two more statements to show that Garre really has no understanding of how the airline business works and the reality of the situation, as opposed to purely political manoeuvring.
Blaya also announced the filing of a complaint with the European Commission for embezzlement. Specifically, the secretary general of the Federation of Citizen Services CCOO, Salvador Soto, that was presented on December 15th 2014 to the European Anti-Fraud Office regarding; "serious suspicion of fraud affecting public funding through the EU for Corvera airport. In that letter, he noted that San Javier Airport opened a second runway in 2011 to allow up to three million passengers to pass through San Javier. He added that if San Javier was to be closed that Garre might have to return some ten million euros of European funds, to add to the 22,000€ it costs in interest to keep Corvera closed, on a daily basis.
He warned Garre that the European Commission and ordered the Polish state to pay back 218 million euros, regarding the building of Gdynia airport, when Gdansk is only 25 kilometres away.
Therefore, the complaint to the European Commission recommends recovering 'misappropriated' funds for the Corvera airport and the Directorate General for Competition of the EU, that has not authorized a loan. Blaya added that San Javier airport, was the only Spanish airport to win an award from the Consejo Internacional de Aeropuertos: International Council of Quality Airports in the category of less than two million passengers.