Government wants to extend airport state of alert to mid-January

The Cabinet on Tuesday decided to seek an extension of the state of alert in force at Spanish airports until January 15. The move to keep air traffic control under the military's auspices will be presented to Congress on Thursday for approval.

Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the Air Transport Association (IATA), backed the government's hard-line stance against air traffic controllers, who staged a wildcat strike last week in protest at working conditions and the planned privatization of the air navigation sector.

"The air industry greatly appreciates it. It is indispensable to maintain the air transport system and it is the responsibility of the Spanish government to decide how to do so," Bisignani said, adding that Spain's controllers are "the highest paid and the least productive, which is difficult to justify."

Public Works Minister José Blanco earlier announced the government would push ahead with the privatization of 13 control towers in 2011 with the objective of "breaking the monopoly" of AENA. The government will identify the airports whose towers will be taken over by a new service provider soon, he added. "It is without doubt an important step toward the improvement of air navigation services, liberalizing and introducing, for the first time, competitiveness in the sector."