Malaga-Gib access on ‘case by case’ basis
Monarch incident: no policy change by Madrid, says Pons
Dominique Searle reports
Spain’s refusal to allow Wednesday’s diverted Monarch flight to go straight to Gibraltar airport from Malaga does not reflect any change of policy on Spain’s part, José Pons, the Spanish Foreign Ministry’s Director for Europe said yesterday.
Sr Pons told the Chronicle that there was no novelty in this and that what Madrid had authorised had been the use of Malaga as an alternative when aircraft could not land at Gibraltar. “This was done,†he said.
After the September incident, when a GB Airways flight was allowed to fly straight back, Mr Caruana said the direct flight from Malaga was a development that could be read in the context of the improved climate created by the tripartite process of dialogue.
A year ago almost to the day the Anglo-Spanish statement that started the tripartite process stated in its annex that Spain would “allow the inclusion of Spanish airports as alternative airports in the flight plans whose final destination is the airport of Gibraltarâ€. But Sr Pons emphasised that direct flight for diverted aircraft were only being considered on a case by case basis and that in the September incident this had been in the context of the Gibraltar radar being down and a diversion after landing had not been possible because of the weather.
“We did not convert it into a norm although we are working towards making this possible,†he said explaining that this would be envisaged in the context of an overall airport agreement.
“There is no change in the Spanish position,†said Sr Pons adding that people should not read any “strange manoeuvres†into the decision on Wednesday.
Yesterday it was confirmed that the British Embassy in Madrid has raised with the Spanish Foreign Affairs Ministry (Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores MAE) the issue of Spanish military aircraft having operated outside their designated exercise area after this disrupted Thursday’s Monarch flight from Luton to Gibraltar.
However Sr Pons said that he is still awaiting a series of reports including from the military, Spanish civilian aviation, the pilot and Monarch. But he said that when the flight had arrived in Malaga there had not been any report from the pilot other than of low visibility in Gibraltar.
“As far as I know there had not been any danger to anyone.â€
Related Articles and Links:
Statement by The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Baroness Symons, announcing a Joint Statement on the establishment of a new forum for dialogue on Gibraltar - the now so called ‘Tripartite Talks’ - dated 28th October 2004
From The Gibraltar Chronicle - The Independent Daily First Published 1801
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27 October 2005 - Madrid pressed to explain return to Tangier diversion
27 October 2005 - Spanish tripartite talks negotiator makes Campo move
27 October 2005 - Feetham challenges Bossano over airport
20 October 2005 - Sovereignty status quo will be unaltered by Ariport deal
15 October 2005 - ‘Concessions’ for Airport deal, but not on any fundamentals - Caruana
14 October 2005 - They can talk until the cows come home, says Bossano
12 October 2005 - Tight lipped, but Gib-Spain-UK report ‘progress’
12 October 2005 - Getting there, but not there yet…
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