The Army honours ENAIRE "for its constant support and collaboration"

The chief controller at the Tenerife North Airport control tower, Marcial Gómez Uribe, has been awarded the Military Merit Cross with white band by the Army. The award was presented in January "for his constant support and collaboration with the Army".

The ceremony to present the decoration, which took place on Wednesday at the General Headquarters in the Canary Islands, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, was presided over by Carlos Palacios Zaforteza, Commanding Officer of the Army's Canary Islands Command (Mcana). The General presented the Military Merit Cross to the ENAIRE air traffic controller at an event that had to be postponed twice due to the coronavirus pandemic.

This citation is presented to individuals who are not in the Army but who, for various reasons, are deemed to be worthy of the award. In the case of ENAIRE's air traffic controller, it was specifically presented for his "unconditional support for the 6th Helicopter Battalion, and for facilitating the performance of the unit's operational missions at all times".

For Marcial Gómez, "receiving this award is recognition of the work that we do every day at ENAIRE to control airspace with the highest levels of safety, efficiency and effectiveness". According to the air traffic controller, "we communicate and coordinate constantly with the Army, which has bestowed an honour on me personally that really belongs to every ENAIRE air traffic controller".

The presentation of the Military Merit Cross recognises the vocation and sense of public service of ENAIRE as Spain's air navigation manager, and of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and the Urban Agenda (MITMA) to which it belongs.

About ENAIRE

ENAIRE is the company of the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda that manages air navigation in Spain. It renders aerodrome control services at 21 airports, including the busiest in terms of air traffic, plus en-route and approach control, from five control centres: Barcelona, Madrid, Gran Canaria, Palma and Seville. In addition, ENAIRE provides communications, navigation and surveillance services to 45 air control towers.

In 2019, ENAIRE handled 2.1 million flights to and from four continents (Europe, America, Asia and Africa), transporting 320 million passengers.

ENAIRE is the fourth most important European air navigation service provider, and, in a clear commitment to the Single Sky initiative, belongs to international partnerships such as SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research) Joint Undertaking, SESAR Deployment Manager, A6 Alliance, iTEC, CANSO (Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation) and ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).