Story ID: 569 Gestair
Gestair Highlights New Madrid FBO
By: David Donald
Caption: 
Word Count: 295
Earlier this year Gestair (Booth 755) opened a new FBO facility in the former authorities pavilion at Madrid-Barajas airport, which is where all the Spanish capital’s business aviation traffic is now directed. Previously those flights had operated into Torrejón air base, but that operation has been closed down. Gestair, with 35 years experience providing business aviation services, won the initial five-year contract from AENA (Spanish airports and air navigation authority) to manage the Barajas executive terminal.

To create a terminal that ranks alongside the best in Europe, Gestair invested about €1.2 million. The 474-sq-m space was redesigned with four lounges, one of which is for crew, and was remodeled by renowned architects Estudio de Arquitectura de 3, in partnership with technology provider Samsung and interior design firm Becara. A passenger service desk and flight planning department are in another building, although the planning area is located between the crew lounge and flight support department.

Moving to Barajas has provided many benefits over Torrejón, not least of which is a move to 24-hour operations. Barajas’s widely spaced runways deconflict landing and takeoff traffic, a problem that had dogged Torrejón operations, and the co-location with Spain’s principal international airport makes connections for business passengers to commercial services much easier. Furthermore, despite Gestair’s ability to offer world-class facilities, it was not possible to upgrade those at Torrejón to the desired standard.

Gestair operates at nine other airports in Spain: Barcelona, Burgos, A Coruña, Gerona, Ibiza, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Santiago de Compostela and Valencia. At these locations Gestair Flight Support provides rapid flight planning services, while the FBO division provides luxurious lounge facilities, concierge and ground transportation services, cabin cleaning, galley resupply/catering and fuel.