Madrid, 6 May 2022 (AESA)

Aeronautics engineer Montserrat Mestres Domenech is the new director of the State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA), after being approved today by the Governing Council of the Agency.

Mestres replaces Isabel Maestre Moreno, who led AESA since its creation in October 2008.

The new head of the Spanish Civil Aviation Authority is Aeronautical Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and a degree in Economics from UNED, and until now was director of AENA’s Group I Airports.

Born in Barcelona, until now, she was the airport manager of Group I de Aena, which includes the Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández facilities; Bilbao; Girona-Costa Brava; Ibiza; Malaga-Costa del Sol; Menorca; Seville and Valencia.

Mestres joined the airport manager in 2001 and, over the last two decades, has held different positions, both in the commercial and real estate areas and in the airport.

Among others, it has occupied the Valladolid Airport Directorate (2001-2004), the Facilitation Division of the Project Management (2008-2009), the Programming and Control Division of the Infrastructure Directorate (2009-2010), the Deputy Directorate for Commercial Services and Real Estate Management (2010-2012) and the Commercial Planning and Real Estate Management Division (2012-2017) in the Directorate-General for Unregulated Business.

In October 2017, she took over the Group III Airports Directorate (Aena Airports on the Peninsula with less than 500,000 passengers per year) and since 2019 has been the Group I Airport Manager.

In this last stage, marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, it has managed to maintain a safe operation at all times, both from a health and safety point of view, by adapting the facilities to a very different demand. This has made it possible to maintain high efficiency, despite the difficulties, and that all Aena Group I airports have complied with the commitments arising from the Airport Regulation Document I.