Aena Returns to Profitability as Traffic Recovers

Narrow-moat Aena doubled first-quarter 2022 revenue compared with a year ago and returned to EBITDA profitability as passenger traffic continues to recover. Traffic through the group’s airports totaled 44 million passengers in the quarter and equates to 72% of 2019 levels. Airlines’ scheduled seats for summer 2022 exceeds that of 2019, suggesting a full recovery over the period. Aena is incentivizing airlines to stick to their schedules through passenger fee discounts if they meet certain scheduling and load factor requirements. We believe the discounts on the regulated part of the business will be more than offset by high-margin food and beverage and retail sales on the nonregulated side of the business. The group’s large Spanish network, which has an outsize share of intra-European leisure travel, is well placed relative to peers that rely on international travel. Shares are trading at a slight discount to our EUR 150 fair value estimate.