Aena puts out to tender the car rental service at its airports with 10,000 million

The airport manager, Aena, has launched the vehicle rental contest (‘rent a car’), one of the largest in the world, with more than 21,500 seats and an estimated turnover of 10,000 million euros.

In its last meeting, Aena’s Board of Directors approved the start of the license renewal process, which will be operational from November 2024. The new contracts will have a duration of between 5 and 7 years.

The contest will mean the renewal of the service in 38 airports compared to the current 34, with the incorporation of those in Melilla, Badajoz, Vitoria and Logroño-Agoncillo. The operator reports that the places offered will be more than 21,500 and the available licenses will increase from the current 170 to 218 in the new competition.

One of the biggest ‘Rent a car’ contests

This is one of the largest ‘rent a car’ contests in the world, an activity with an estimated turnover of 10,000 million euros during the term of the contracts, adds the majority public company.

The competition proposes a “flexible strategy” adapted to the different profiles of car rental customers who operate at airports.

Closed lots of places are eliminated and companies can select the number of places desired, with rents adapted to the profiles of the operators.

It establishes a fixed income that gives the right to a sufficient number of places for the business to be viable and a fixed income per place for those clients who opt for a larger implementation.

In addition, contracts are included to develop activity in the corporate aviation terminals of the main airports (Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat, Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca and Málaga-Costa del Sol).

Currently, Aena has signed contracts with 16 operators in 34 airports, which will be valid until October 31, 2024.

Every year, 4.6 million driverless vehicles are rented at the airports in the Aena network in Spain. This line of business is Aena’s third largest commercial revenue volume (behind duty free and restaurants), and generates sales of around 1.2 billion euros each year for operators.

Aena’s objective, he adds, is to maximize the value of this line of business and attract the largest possible number of operators with the aim of improving the quality offered to passengers.