Originally published by Augusta Abogados.  For more information or to see the Spanish translation, click here.

Today’s Official State Gazette publishes Law 9/2025, of 3 December, on Sustainable Mobility (BOE). It is a text of remarkable breadth and complexity: it comprises 143 pages, distributed in 110 articles, 38 additional provisions, 10 transitional provisions and 21 final provisions. Because of its length and density, the new law requires detailed and rigorous study to fully understand its scope and implications. This post aims to offer only a first urgent approach of the main measures affecting air transport, carried out by the team of Augusta Abogados as an executive summary, but does not intend to be exhaustive. 

1. Strategic planning and environmental sustainability 

• Strategic Plan for the Sustainability of Air Transport: The Government, through the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, will prepare and approve a specific plan for the air sector, which – according to the Law itself – must: 

• Be consistent with European and international initiatives (e.g. the European Green Deal and Regulation (EU) 2023/1804). 

• Analyse climate impact, emissions of greenhouse gases, particulate matter and other pollutants, as well as noise emissions and the protection of biodiversity in airport environments. 

• Establish concrete measures and monitoring criteria for the achievement of international objectives in the short, medium and long term. 

• Include consultation with the main actors in the industry’s value chain. 

1. Decarbonisation and energy transition 

• Electricity supply to parked aircraft: By 31 December 2029, major airports must ensure the supply of electricity to parked aircraft, in accordance with European regulations (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/ES/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32023R1804), with the aim of reducing the use of fossil fuels on the ground. 

• Promotion of alternative fuels: The availability and use of renewable electricity, renewable hydrogen, biomethane and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) is promoted, in line with the sector’s decarbonisation and emission reduction objectives. 

1. Environmental management, transparency and emission control 

• Calculation and publication of the carbon footprint: Airport managers must calculate and publish the carbon footprint of aeronautical activity annually, as well as provide themselves with an emissions reduction and compensation plan, with the aim of achieving climate neutrality in airport services. 

• Information on emissions: The obligation to provide annual information on the emission of pollutants into the atmosphere is reinforced, following the methodology agreed with the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge. 

1. Limits on domestic flights 

• Reduction of domestic flights: This is, without a doubt, one of the star measures, announced in the previous legislature and which is now reflected in the legal text. In imitation of our French neighbours, the Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility will promote the reduction of domestic flights on those routes where there is a railway alternative with a duration of less than two and a half hours, except in cases of connection with airports that link with international routes. 

• Impact study: To implement the measure, the Law provides for a technical study to be carried out on its impact on the reduction of emissions, regional connectivity and other economic and social effects, which will be submitted to a public hearing before the adoption of possible regulatory amendments. 

1. Public service obligations and funding 

• Public service air routes: Public service obligations on air routes within the peninsula will be financed by the proposing administrations (usually autonomous communities), with the State maintaining the management and control of the service. 

• Inter-administrative collaboration: The possibility of agreements or agreements between the State and the Autonomous Communities for the provision of these services is foreseen, guaranteeing territorial cohesion and equity in access to mobility. 

1. Attention to island territories, outermost regions and autonomous cities 

• Mobility in the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla: The Higher Council for Sustainable Mobility will prioritise the preparation of reports on mobility in these territories, with the aim of guaranteeing territorial equity and the right to sustainable mobility, adapting state funding measures to their specific needs. 

Originally published by Augusta Abogados.  For more information or to see the Spanish translation, click here.

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