Barcelona (ACN).- For two days, the managers of the 27 airlines of Star Alliance met in Barcelona. This Friday, they were received by the President of the Catalan Government, together with the Catalan Minister for Economy and Knowledge and the Minister for Public Works, Transport and Sustainability.

Star Alliance CEO, Jaan Albrecht, thanked the Catalan Government’s commitment with Spanair and to transform Barcelona El Prat Airport into a proper intercontinental hub, an objective he considered as “strategic” for Star Alliance. Albrecht praised the potential of Barcelona’s airport regarding flights with Latin America, North of Africa, the Middle East and Southern Africa.

Ferran Soriano, Spanair’s Chairman explained that Barcelona El Prat is Europe’s fourth airport regarding passenger origin and destination; however, when adding the transfer passengers, it becomes the tenth airport in the continent in number of passengers. The Catalan President, Artur Mas explained the efforts the Government he chairs is making to participate in Barcelona El Prat’s strategic decisions, currently only in the hands of the Spanish Government. Mas also emphasised the importance to manage Barcelona’s airport from the private sector.

Finally, he explained how in his view Catalonia was in a better position than the rest of Spain to fully recover from the economic crisis because “it is an open economy”, where tourism and exports have hold a significant weight, leading these two sectors in Spain.