Tue, Dec 01, 2009
Government Mandated Fees For Every Aircraft At 215
Airports
New terminal charges expected to be introduced at 215 airports
across Europe will mean increased costs for general aviation
operators who have to use those airfields. An approach charge which
will probably be between $20 and $45 (20-30 Euros) for small
aircraft is being planned by the European Commission under its
Single European Sky initiative, and unlike en route charges which
are paid only by airlines, the terminal charge will be paid by
all.
The charge has been proposed because airports complain that
while they have to do most of the ATC work, they don't get a fair
share of en route charges. En route charging begins about 12 miles
from an airport of departure and ends the same distance from the
destination, and 80 percent of charges are kept by en route control
organizations. En route charges vary from state to state - the
Spanish charge 83 cents per km, the British and Germans about 68
cents, the Maltese 25 cents. Balancing charges against fuel costs,
airlines dog-leg around Europe looking for the cheapest route.
Charges bring in over $9 billion a year for ATC, collected by
Eurocontrol and distributed to states.
IAOPA reports in their newsletter that a separate charge will
be introduced to compensate airports, and every approaching
aircraft will pay whether IFR or VFR. The charge will be by
aircraft weight, and will take no account of the operator's ability
to pass it on to passengers. In the case of a regional airport like
East Midlands in the United Kingdom, the pilot of a Cessna 172 will
pay three separate charges - approach, landing, and mandatory
handling - whether he or she needs any service or not.
Plans to charge were set out at a meeting in Brussels on
November 26th attended by IAOPA Senior Vice President Martin
Robinson. The formula will be the weight of the aircraft multiplied
by a factor yet to be decided, and there will be no discounts for
non-commercial flights. Introduction of the system is scheduled for
January 1st, 2010. IAOPA is mapping the 215 airports affected in
order to warn members of where they face increased costs.
The new charges will come despite a warning from EC Vice
President Antonio Tajani that the aviation industry is in a
dreadful state. In a letter to transport ministers he says airlines
worldwide face losses of $11 billion this year, with $3.8 billion
of that in Europe. In the first seven months of the year there was
a nine percent reduction in passengers and a 20 percent reduction
in cargo. Business travel by airline has been hardest hit, and
there have been several bankruptcies in the sector. He has urged a
moratorium on increases in charges during 2010.
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