Spanish government officials have approved the sale of airport authority Aeropuertos Españoles y Navegación Aérea (AENA) and stakes in 20-year concessions to operate Madrid-Barajas and Barcelona-El Prat airports.

Maximising commercial revenues will be a core responsibility and opportunity for parties bidding for the two 90.5 per cent airport stakes the Spanish government added.

The Council of Ministers also approved a second agreement authorising the sale of a 49 per cent stake in AENA.

AENA will retain the remaining 9.95 per cent interest and ownership of all assets and liabilities of the airports.

The contract tender for Madrid and Barcelona will open on July 30th, with a decision expected by November this year.

The winning bidders will then take over the 20-year contracts in spring 2012.

The successful concessionaire/s will make initial payments to AENA and an annual fee equivalent to 20 per cent of the respective airports’ revenue.

For 2012 that fee will be €150 million for Madrid-Barajas and €80 million for Barcelona-El Prat.

Minimum bid levels have been established at €3.7 billion for Madrid-Barajas and €1.6 billion for Barcelona-El Prat.

Spain’s Socialist government is selling assets as it seeks to reduce the amount of debt it needs to issue to finance a budget deficit that was the third-largest in the euro region last year.

To access all the latest information about the world’s major airlines via one mobile platform visit Airline.City.Mobi.