SPAIN. Aena announced yesterday that it will appoint María José Cuenda Chamorro as Director General of Unregulated Business, replacing José Manuel Fernández Bosch from 1 March.
The role encompasses the areas of commercial business, real estate management and international development and includes responsibility for more than €1 billion (US$1.14 billion) in commercial revenue (2017 data).
Spain’s national airport network manager is promoting Cuenda from Director of Commercial Services, a position she has held since June 2017. She joined Aena in 1996 in a commercial and marketing function at Palma de Mallorca Airport and is familiar with the specifics of the duty free and travel retail business at key airports in the country network.
Cuenda holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration from the University of Extremadura, an MBA from the Instituto de Empresa, and a degree in the Executive Development Program from IESE.
She commented that she has “an exciting project ahead of her: to continue driving the commercial transformation of airports, always with an eye on the client, and to develop new lines of business within our Strategic Plan, such as real estate development and internationalisation”.
Fernández Bosch meanwhile will join a new project about which Aena did not elaborate. The company said: “During the seven years he has been with Aena, Fernández Bosch has been part of the team that has led the transformation of the company, which culminated with the process of private capital entry and the IPO.
“He has also been at the forefront of real estate development and international business… launching the two largest real estate expansion projects in Madrid and Barcelona, included in the Strategic Plan.”
Fernández Bosch, formerly at Boston Consulting Group, commented that he was “proud and pleased to have participated in the great transformation of Aena” adding that “the time has come to change the cycle and undertake new projects”.
The commercial business of Aena has seen a major overhaul over the past eight years, with special emphasis on the development of the travel retail business. The result has been strong growth of commercial revenue across various lines. Traffic at Aena’s core airports has also been growing strongly auguring well for the duty free and wider commercial business.
