During 2007 passengers will begin to notice changes to Jeréz Airport’s through building and improvement work which has already started and will continue to do so throughout the year. With these changes the aerodrome will become more comfortable for travellers, easier to use for aeroplanes and more accessible for vehicles.

Although a long-term plan exists which started when improvement work began in 2005 and aims to finish in 2010, this is little more than a rough guide on paper since what really marks the rhythm of progress is the quantity of money the state assigns each year, as reflected in the budget of the “Presupuestos Generales del Estado”.

In 2007 this budget will allow for the construction of a taxiing way, aeroplane platforms, a runway extension and the continuation of improvement work to extend the terminal building. In addition, improvements are planned to the systems of security, air traffic control and maintenance. In all, for 2007, the State has assigned 11,694,000 euros to Jeréz Airport.

Although most of the projects will begin in 2007, as some are lengthy, they will not all be finished within the year. Nevertheless, if all goes to plan, four important new features will be in place by next year. The taxiing lane, a parking bay for buses and the aeroplane platforms will be finished and working by 2007, while the first phase of the terminal extension will be completed either by the end of the year or the beginning of the next.

The taxiing lane is a service lane parallel to the runway which enables planes to return to the boarding zone after landing without having to use the runway to do so. In this way time is saved, since each aeroplane spends less time on the actual runway and therefore more flights can take off and land.

According to Aena this will mean fifteen planes an hour instead of ten an hour. In addition this means that during busy periods particularly, passenger waiting time will be considerably reduced.

The platforms are the zones where aeroplanes are parked. At present there is space for six aeroplanes, but after work has been completed this will increase to 12. In this way the aerodrome will increase its flight capacity as more planes can be accommodated and the airport will therefore be more efficient.

This year there will also be an area for buses, especially for those used by tour operators to ferry package tourists to their hotels, a common practice during the high season. Until now, with no place to stop, this procedure has caused considerable inconvenience to these package tourists as well as to other tourists not to mention private cars picking up or dropping off passengers at Jeréz Airport. With its own space for up to 30 coaches, traffic jams and bottlenecks will be avoided at the entrance and exit to the airport.

However, perhaps the most important improvement which will affect travellers most directly is the enlargement of the terminal building, although it is still not confirmed whether his will be completed by January 2008. The first phase will affect the arrivals hall and therefore passengers flying into Jeréz.

In this area you can find the baggage reclaim hall with its conveyor belts, security checkpoints where the Civil Guards and National Police search baggage and customers, and the car hire zone. Expanding this area will also facilitate the subsequent expansion of the check-in zone, allowing<