Supreme Court Considers That Airport Stores Are Concessions And Not Rentals

The Supreme Court considers that airport stores are concessions and not rentals.

The Supreme Court has considered in a ruling that the airport stores are concessions and not rentals, among other reasons because these businesses pay a guaranteed minimum annual income, regardless of the results of the activity carried out.

In a ruling dated March 8, advanced by the newspaper Expansión, the contentious court has dismissed the appeal presented by the airport manager against a resolution of the National Court.

The Supreme Court refers to the European directive for the concession of services, which indicates that “in the airport sector, these activities also include services that are offered to passengers to contribute to the proper functioning of the facilities and that are considered normal in an efficient airport and modern, such as shops, public catering services and parking lots “.

Airport stores, adds the Supreme Court, fall fully into the category of concessions, an onerous contract concluded in writing in which the provision and management of services is entrusted to one or more economic operators.

The Supreme Court considers that airport stores are concessions and not rentals.

This implies “the transfer to the concessionaire of an operational risk in the exploitation of said works or services”, since it assumes an operational risk “when it is not guaranteed that, under normal operating conditions, it will recover the investments made or cover the costs incurred “.

These are not concessions on property in the airport public domain that should be transformed into leasing contracts , as Aena argued, referring to the 2010 decree law on actions in the fiscal, labor and liberalizing fields to encourage investment and job creation.

On the contrary, indicates the Supreme Court, the shops, businesses and restaurants of the airports are subject to a contracting process carried out in 2017, through public bidding after a resolution of the Central Administrative Court.