Our activity

ENAIRE is the main provider of air navigation and aeronautical information services in Spain, the fourth in Europe by traffic volume, and one of the most important in the world

All aircraft taking off, landing or crossing our airspace receive communication, navigation and surveillance services through a modern and comprehensive network of facilities operated by ENAIRE. Throughout their journey, they are assisted by our air traffic control professionals who, depending on the phase of flight, provide the service from control towers or control centres, ensuring at all times the separation required between them to guarantee safe operations.

Purpose

We manage your flight to make sure it is safe, fast, efficient and sustainable.

Mission

We provide air navigation services with safety, quality, efficiency and respect for the environment, contributing to the development of aviation and therefore to Spain’s economic and social development.

Vision

We aim to make ENAIRE a global operator, a leader in the air navigation sector, based on people, innovation, sustainability and digitisation

Values

Safety comes first: it is in our DNA, a pillar that supports our service and people’s wellbeing.
Committed to clients and society: we strive for excellence to exceed the needs and expectations of our clients and stakeholders, with empathy and a responsible attitude towards the environment.
We are a single, great team: we are proud to be part of ENAIRE, we act with integrity and work collaboratively, respecting and trusting one another to build an interconnected organisation.
“Hunger” to improve our organisation: we are innovative and proactive, with an open mind to adapt to change and to enable ENAIRE to transform and grow.

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Take-off

From the control tower of the departure airport, we manage flights from the moment they start their engines: we control aircraft movements on the taxiways and aircraft take-offs from the runways. Once the aircraft take off, the flights are transferred to approach control personnel.

Landing

When flights are very close to the airport, and generally when the aircraft are aligned with the runways, tower controllers clear them to land, ensuring that the runway is free of both other flights and any object that could affect the manoeuvre. Once the aircraft has vacated the runway, its movement is managed along the taxiways to the parking stand.
Take-off:

Once the aircraft is transferred, its climb is controlled along the established departure routes until it joins the airway corresponding to its route, which forms part of the route network covering the entire airspace and connecting the airports. This phase of the flight is managed from the unit providing the approach control service. Once on the airway, the aircraft is transferred to the en-route control team.

Landing:

The descent of aircraft for landing, once the flight has been transferred from area/en-route control, is managed by approach control personnel, who direct the trajectory of these flights towards the destination airport. In addition, at airports with higher air traffic levels, landing sequences are organised, adjusting the trajectories and speeds of aircraft until they reach the vicinity of the airports and are ready to begin their landing manoeuvre, at which point the flight is transferred to the control towers.
Once flights are established on the airways, en-route controllers manage aircraft during the cruise phase until they begin their descent to the destination airport. This is the longest phase of the flight and, depending on the route followed by the aircraft, it is controlled from the different en-route control centres the aircraft passes through, with flights being transferred between them in keeping with internationally established procedures.

The image shows some figures* on ENAIRE's activity. Data taken from the 2024 ENAIRE Sustainability Report.

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ENAIRE Stakeholders

El ENAIRE’s management system is responsible for, among other functions, gathering information on the needs and expectations of our stakeholders in order to incorporate them into strategic management.

We establish stable, long-lasting partnerships and relationship frameworks, and design dialogue channels that promote active listening and collaboration with our stakeholders. At ENAIRE, we consolidate integration policies based on trust at all times.

ENAIRE’s main stakeholders are our clients (aviation, airport operators, drone users, ...); People; Society and regulatory bodies and public administrations, as well as our partners and vendors. You can download our stakeholder map at this link.

ENAIRE facilitates communication with stakeholders through its Electronic Administration, accessible from ENAIRE’s website, where public information can be consulted, and a wide range of administrative tasks can be completed online. Additionally, you may send us your communications by email to informacion@enaire.es.

The ENAIRE Foundation

The ENAIRE Foundation was established in December 1994, under the name Fundación Aena, with the aim of supporting a series of cultural, educational and scientific initiatives directly related to the objectives assigned by law to the-then public enterprise Aena (Spanish Airports and Air Navigation), as well as of preserving, disseminating and expanding the organisation’s important artistic heritage, particularly its contemporary art collection.

As a result of the transformation process undergone by the public enterprise in recent years, and under Royal Decree-Law 8/2014 of 4 July, it was renamed ENAIRE, becoming legally distinct from the state-owned company Aena.

Due to these structural changes, the Foundation, as a public institution, has continued to depend on the parent official entity, adopting the official name Fundación ENAIRE since 2016.

Startical

Founded in 2021 as a public-private initiative by ENAIRE, Spain’s national air navigation service provider, and Indra, one of the world’s leading suppliers of air traffic management systems, Startical combines the operational and technological expertise of both organisations to tackle one of aviation’s greatest challenges: ensuring communications and surveillance coverage in oceanic and remote areas.

With a planned constellation of more than 200 satellites specifically designed for air traffic management, its goal is to extend the existing ground infrastructure into space. In doing so, it will provide global, continuous VHF and ADS-B coverage, connecting oceanic and continental airspace, closing the gaps where terrestrial infrastructure cannot reach, and opening the skies to a new era of safety, efficiency, and connectivity.

Startical’s mission is already underway. With two demonstrator satellites in orbit, Startical has carried out the first real-time voice and data communications between commercial aircraft over the Atlantic and controllers via VHF signals transmitted from space—a historic milestone for aviation.

Additionally, the initial demonstrations validated the compatibility with existing avionics and in-orbit performance of the technology, marking the first steps towards the Startical Constellation. Once fully operational, it will enhance the safety, efficiency, and sustainability of global air traffic by enabling optimal flight routes and reducing operating costs and CO2 emissions.

For more information, visit the official website of Startical.

Our activity

Purpose

Mission

Vision

Values

Services provided by ENAIRE

Services provided by ENAIRE

Operation at the departure aerodrome

Terminal Area Departure Climb

En-route Cruise

Terminal Area Arrival Descent

Operation at the arrival aerodrome

Take-off

Landing

Take-off:

Landing:

ENAIRE by the numbers

ENAIRE by the numbers

Investee companies

Investee companies

ENAIRE Stakeholders

The ENAIRE Foundation

Startical