Three mayors call planned TFS night closure "unacceptable"

[Janet]

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A recent announcement that TFS will be closed overnight from 3 April to 30 June for runway works has been greeted with "total rejection" by the mayors of Adeje, Arona and Guía de Isora. José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, José Julián Mena and Pedro Martín have held an urgent meeting to discuss the announcement by Aena, which is set to cost nearly €5m to improve the airport, but which the mayors say will result in Tenerife being "without night time flight connections for three months, an unacceptable situation".

The mayors explained that the north airport does not open during the night and the works in TFS would leave the island isolated overnight for three months, with serious consequences for residents and the tourism sector. They are asking the regional government and the Tenerife Cabildo to explain the gravity of the situation to the relevant national department for development.

Rodríguez Fraga, Mena and Martín outlined the importance of the airport as a fundamental infrastructure for the south of the island, for residents and for the main economic motor of Tenerife, tourism. "This is the third most profitable airport in Spain, with 11.2 million passengers and more than €70 million in income annually. We cannot be treated in this way, the decision has been taken with no regard for the importance of this time of the year", they argue.

The three mayors also pointed out how this decision only served to vindicate their support for a second runway, and also added this decision regarding the airport to the list of examples, which include the TF1 and southern hospital, of how the south of the island was badly treated by the regional government.

[marbro8]

They are quite right, i think someone should have sat down and worked out the exact time of the year that it would have a minimal  effect on the tourist trade, the timing at the start of the main holiday seasons are ridiculous. With better planning they could have built the second runway then used it while they repaired the other.

[Delderek]

But April May June, are the very very quiet times (best time to visit in my opinion), with flights at a minimum, not sure how many night arrivals, maybe only two or three a week. So "much a do about nothing" IMHO.

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Now, I'm no genius but, for the amount of flights involved here, surely they could open the North up at night for the duration of the works?   

Job needs doing. Can't be done in the day, so when else can they do it?

"The Three Mayors"    would have an even more concerned look on their faces if there was an accident caused by runway failure and they were the ones who stopped the work going ahead.

The only concern I would have is that when they say three months......................................