Iván Grande, new director of Bilbao Airport
Bilbao Airport will have a new director as of 1st May. Iván Grande Merino, a native of Madrid, has been appointed as the new director of the Biscayan airport, replacing Cristina Echeverría.
Iván Grande holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and an Industrial Engineering degree from the UNED. He also holds a Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of León and a Master’s Degree in Building Structures from the Polytechnic University of Madrid. He joined Aena in 2012 in the Operations area of Ibiza Airport. Subsequently, he was responsible for the Technical-Operational Section of Melilla Airport between 2013 and 2018, the year in which he took over the management of this facility, where under his direction the modernisation of the facilities and the improvement of the quality of the services provided to passengers has continued, obtaining in 2018 and 2019 the ACI award in the category of quality of service provided to passengers in European airports with less than 2 million passengers.For her part, Cristina Echeverría, director of Bilbao Airport since 2013, is stepping down at her own request for personal reasons.
Cristina, an Aeronautical Engineer, joined Aena in 1997, where she has developed an extensive professional career in different positions in the areas of international development, airport services and security, occupying, in addition to the management of Bilbao, the management of Logroño-Agoncillo and A Coruña airports.
From the 2013-2021 period in Bilbao, the certification of the airport in accordance with European regulations stands out, as well as the improvement in the quality of passenger services, with the Bilbao 2020 Quality Plan, with a multitude of actions that have updated the terminal inaugurated in 2000 and which have contributed to Bilbao airport being recognised by ACI as the best European airport for more than 5 million passengers in 2018.
At the institutional level, these have been years of continuous and fruitful work with local institutions, which crystallised in the celebration of Routes Europe 2018 in the city of Bilbao. During Cristina’s time at Bilbao Airport, this infrastructure has consolidated its growth and has set its all-time record for passengers and destinations. Furthermore, the foundations for its future growth have already been laid, with the project for the new technical block currently underway, which will allow the terminal’s passenger area to be expanded.