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.

FMI: www.iaopa.org