Nearly 100 planes are abandoned at Spanish airports with massive debt to AENA

The Spanish government has officially acknowledged that almost 100 aircraft are languishing at various airports within the Aena network, including here in the Canary Islands. Specifically, 95 planes are abandoned across the country, accumulating a debt of nearly seven million euros in airport fees owed to the public operator.

This revelation comes in response to a written inquiry posed by Fabián Chinea, a senator from La Gomera and spokesperson for the Parliamentary Group Izquierda Confederal.

Chinea expressed particular interest in an aircraft from the defunct Spanish cargo airline Saicus Air, stored at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport, which the government admitted has been abandoned since 2010.

The aircraft in question, a McDonnell Douglas MD-87 (Boeing) model, was claimed by its current owner, Promerca Cargo Internacional, following Saicus' bankruptcy proceedings. As it now has an owner, the plane cannot be sold or transferred and is currently under embargo.

The government clarified, stating, "At the present date, the aircraft is being prepared for auction by the State Tax Agency and will be removed from the airport once the process is concluded."

How can the situation of these abandoned planes be resolved?

In some instances, such as the one mentioned above, these aircraft have remained stationary for over a decade, deteriorating and occupying public space without remedy. Since they are privately owned, they cannot even be donated to an aviation foundation, school, or museum.

Except in cases where an aircraft is involved in a legal procedure (such as seizure, bankruptcy, or judicial process), the government reports that it initially attempts to locate the owner for retrieval. If these efforts prove futile, the airport operator initiates procedures to legally declare the aircraft abandoned.

To this end, three notices are published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and the Official Journal of the European Union (DOUE) on three different dates over consecutive months.

After a year passes without the owner making a claim since the initiation of this process, the state presumes abandonment and begins procedures for the aircraft's sale through a public auction.