Iberia is already in negotiations with Gibraltar airport regarding the timetables, frequencies and slots for flights from Madrid to Gibraltar in December. Cadiz province will therefore have two airports in real terms: Jerez and Gibraltar, where the traffic has been very limited so far.

Iberia stressed that it plans to appoint a delegate, most likely the airline's manager in Andalusia, and will also open an office at Gibraltar airport and appoint a manager before the end of the year.

This is only one example of how Gibraltar airport will operate like any other airport in Spain, as the flights from the colony to any point in Spain and vice versa will be considered as "domestic flights".

Spaniards will be able to access the airport directly without needing to go through the customs and ID checks that are currently located at La Verja, the frontier that separates the British colony from the city of La Línea in Cadiz.

Spaniards may fly from Gibraltar to any point of Spain and within six months, to any point of the European Union without the restrictions that currently burden the colony's airport.

European citizens will likewise be able to reach the province of Cadiz through Gibraltar airport as it were through any other EU airport.

Tourism, now even closer

Gibraltar airport is just 12 kilometres from San Roque, one of the most important golf destinations in the province of Cadiz, 38 kilometres from Tarifa, the Mecca of European windsurfing, and just one hour’s drive from Novo Sancti Petri, one of the province’s leading resorts.

The Spanish, UK and Gibraltar governments took this decision in September, which will benefit the citizens and the development and commercial prospects of the Campo de Gibraltar and the Rock, even though Gibraltar is a colony and is not covered by the EU Schengen treaty.

The agreement envisages that the commercial management of the airport will be entrusted to a Spanish-Gibraltarian joint venture company, where the Spanish partner is expected to be AENA, the Spanish Airports Authority.

The Government of Gibraltar will be responsible for building a terminal next to La Verja. The building work is expected to take two years.

Another of the challenges is to improve the traffic accesses as seven million people cross La Verja each year for work, business and leisure reasons and the increased air traffic will involve a greater volume of road traffic.

A tunnel is planned to built in the long term as the vehicles currently have to cross the runway.

Improved access

The government of Gibraltar has already invested considerable sums in La Verja and the Spanish Treasury has invested nearly one and a half million euros in improving the installations, which will be ready by the end of the year, according to the press release following the meetings of ministers during the Gibraltar Dialogue Forum.

The Forum likewise acknowledged the work of the Collaboration and Cooperation Mixed Commission set up by the Campo de Gibraltar County Council and encouraged them to continue working to foster cooperation on both sides of La Verja.