Why are follow-me cars used in Gran Canaria Airport in good visibility for incoming aircraft? I've been at GCLP (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain) a few weeks ago.

I've observed that all incoming traffic was guided by a Follow Me while outgoing traffic went without one.

I was curious about that and looked for an airport chart to find more about it. The latest I've found is a Jeppesen chart from DEC 2004... so a bit outdated.

There it states in the LVP (Low Visibility Procedures) section only, that pilots have to wait at apron entry for the Follow Me while outgoing traffic should avoid requesting clearance in such a situation.

There is no notice, about what applies when LVP is not active.

What could be the reason for doing this even in good weather situations (visibility was at least 10km, if not even more)?
The unspoken truth (no references, sorry) for this also applies to many airports around the world (not just Gran Canaria). The follow-me service is not free, and it's one of the ways airport operators make money and create jobs for the community.



The Spanish Aeronautical Information Publication (.pdf) for GCLP does not state a reason, merely confirms what you saw, a follow me for all arrivals regardless of LVP. Here's an example of such paragraph:


  ATC clearance to land at RWY 03L, leave runway via TWY R1R or R1L, following TWY R2 and wait for ATC clearance to enter apron via Gate J, following the instructions of "FOLLOW ME" vehicle, via TWY R10 to the stand (...)




Also see a related discussion on pprune.org.