Non-Subscriber Extract
ACI and AEA clash over charges
By Chantel Watkins
06 August 2009
The Association of European Airlines (AEA) has sparked a spat with ACI Europe after criticising the level of aeronautical charges imposed by airport operators.
Airports in Europe were raising airline fees to compensate for lower traffic levels during the recession, the AEA claimed in a statement. However, with many European airports increasing their fee charges, other airports, which were intending to freeze their charges to help their customers, are now reconsidering this policy.
AEA Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus singled out major hubs such as Frankfurt, Munich, Paris Charles de Gaulle and London Heathrow for criticism, commenting: "Frankfurt Airport could do with a reality check. Its customers are struggling to survive in the current market and the very last thing they need is a cost increase."
Frankfurt is proposing an 8.4 per cent increase in airline charges, with rises also planned at Munich, Charles de Gaulle and Heathrow.
When airlines invested for growth, Schulte-Strathaus said, they did not pre-finance their expansion through higher ticket prices, opting to "stimulate the market with still more attractive price offers". He added: "It is evident that growth in commercial activity should be self-sustaining, sound business plans should have no difficulty attracting investors, and increased volume of business should lead to lower prices, not higher."
ACI Europe, the industry body representing around 400 airports in 46 countries, responded that the AEA had demonstrated a worrying misunderstanding of airport economics. It added that European airports were not increasing charges to protect their competitive position in the crisis, and in some cases were lowering fees.