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Aeroclub to receive 140,000 euros from Island Council

A new agreement between the two bodies will see the flying club resume firewatch duty for between eight and ten years, starting from next summer

Optimistic. José Luis Barrero and Marc Pons discussing the Aeroclub’s future

C.M.W.Maó04/10/10 0:00

Following a vote by its members, the Real Aeroclub de Mahón is to appeal against the 135,000-euro fine imposed on the club by AESA (the State Agency for Air Safety) as a result of flights carried out between 2005 and 2008 on the lookout for forest fires. The unanimous decision echoes the stance taken by the Club's President, José Luis Barrero, who is in favour of taking the matter to court in order to try to avoid the sanction, believing it to be the only way out other than "admitting that we have done something wrong and I'm not prepared to do that". Barrero stressed that the Aeroclub would have to pay the costs of the legal proceedings in which it will be represented by the Professor of Administrative Law, Antonio Jiménez Blanco.

New firewatch agreement

The Island Council and the Aeroclub are shortly to sign a new agreement which will see the club receive 140,000 euros in return for carrying out firewatch duties for a period of between eight and ten years. Thanks to this, the club will be able to ask the banks for a guarantee for the 135,000 euros so that the sanction can be frozen until the judge has reached a decision.

The agreement reinforces the Island Council's earlier promise to support the Aeroclub in this matter.

Island Council seeks ownership of land

Marc Pons announced last week that the Island Council would shortly start a round of talks with the State and Balearic Governments with the aim of gaining ownership of the land occupied by the Aeroclub, currently in the hands of the Ministry of Defence.

"The infrastructure has extraordinary potential and is currently undervalued" explained Pons, who admitted that the process "will not be easy, bearing in mind the administration's difficult financial situation." He declined to set a date for the conclusion of the agreement but felt that "it will not be a question of days nor weeks".

The President recalled that some years ago the Ministry of Defence initiated a process to return the Aeroclub's land to its former owners, a procedure that "has moved neither forwards nor backwards and nobody knows when it will end".

He stressed the need for ownership to pass to the Island Council which would allow the Aeroclub to conduct various other activities related, for example, to training.

The Island Council's decision was applauded by Barrero who stated that the Club was optimistic about the future but needed a framework of stability and, for that, the politicians had to undertake that ownership would pass to the Island Council.