European passengers are paying “excessive” airport charges with calls for the EU to shake-up its Airport Charges Directive.
Airline lobby group, Airlines For Europe (A4E), said the Directive needs to be revised particularly at monopoly airports and those which operate under a Dual Till regime.
Under a Dual Till regime, the profits from airports’ commercial activities such as shopping or parking are not re-invested. The Single Till principle requires revenues from an airport’s non-aeronautical activities (such as shopping, car parking, restaurants, etc) to be deducted from the airport’s revenue for aeronautical services before determining the level of airport charges.
According to the preliminary results of a York Aviation study on “The cost and profitability of European airports”, Dual Till provides airports with five times more profitability than Single Till. In addition, Dual and Hybrid Till airports have eight per cent higher operational costs implying they are less efficient. This is not sustainable.
“More generally, data on airport charges is hard to find, inconsistent when it is found, and incomparable when it is consistent. This is not compatible with the transparency requirements of the ACD,” said A4E managing director Thomas Reynaert.
The study also revealed that neither airlines nor the relevant regulators in each EU member state are provided with transparent information by airports when the latter determine the level of airport charges.