Big city airports could get ‘budget terminals’

The European Commission could be set to help budget airlines move into large city airports, according to a draft proposal on airport charges.

Under existing EU rules, every airline wanting to land in and take off from an airport has to pay the same fee. The charging system has excluded budget carriers from the most expensive - and usually most convenient - airports and encouraged the growth of smaller sites away from large cities.

A Commission proposal on airport charges could change that. The Commission is set to propose allowing airports to build a terminal with limited facilities and charge carriers less to use it.

According to Steve Hogan of Airports Council International (ACI) this would make it possible to "build a budget terminal".

The proposal is part of a directive on airport charges, originally scheduled for publication next Wednesday (20 December), but delayed until January "for translation reasons", according to the Commission.

Airport companies welcome the idea of different services and charges for budget carriers as a way to raise money for the rapid annual increase in air traffic. "It is essential that airport operators are able to do this in the context of the highly competitive airport business market that exists in Europe today," according to Olivier Jankovec, ACI Europe director-general.

Airports will have to spend at least €8 billion a year to deal with a predicted doubling in airline traffic by 2020, according to ACI.

But the Association of European Airlines (AEA) said the proposal would create unfair discrimination between its members.

"We want everyone to be subjected to the same rules," said Françoise Humbert of AEA. "The principle of non-discrimination should ensure all airlines have equal access to services."

AEA is also disappointed by a Commission decision not to impose a cap on airport charges and to opt instead for a co-ordinated system of national regulators. "Our experts find these authorities may not have enough clout to protect us from some airports’ abuse of their dominant position," said Humbert.

The European Commission could be set to help budget airlines move into large city airports, according to a draft proposal on airport charges.