ACI Europe states European airports will need to enhance non-aeronutical revenues

ACI Europe Director General, Olivier Jankovec, stated the European aviation industry is undergoing "fundamental structural changes", which are likely to bring opportunities and challenges for the airport commercial sector, including domination of Europe by a few airline groups (The Moodie Report, 06-Apr-2010). According to Mr Jankovec, a new market structure is developing in regional aviation, which will enhance the key role of non-aeronautical revenues at airports. Non-aeronautical revenues currently account for almost 50% of income at European airports. Mr Jankovec added airports should seek to enhanced services and communicate more effectively with passengers. ACI Europe forecasts liberalisation of the industry will assist in the generation of a market of 1 billion passengers.

ACI Europe: "If you set strategic objectives to raise the quality and share of commercial, then it makes sense for the airport to be much more directly involved in making that happen. It's quite clear now that we're entering an aviation market where we'll have five or maybe six airline groups dominating...That means fewer, more powerful airline groups for the region's 440 airports, the competitive pressure from these airlines on those airports will only grow, and the airlines will exert even greater influence on the airports to bring their aeronautical costs down. Hand in hand with that we are seeing the rise of the low-cost model. On intra-European routes low-cost airlines accounted for 36% of traffic in 2009, and that will hit 50% by 2013. Previously we estimated it would take until 2017 for low-cost carriers to take half of the market, but the economic crisis has accelerated that process. And these carriers bring additional downward pressures to bear on airport charges," Olivier Jankovec, Director General. Source: The Moodie Report, 06-Apr-2010.