ACI - Europe: Checked Facts

Earlier this week, airline association Airlines 4 Europe (A4E) reiterated claims that they have made in the past, in relation to airport charges, as part of their ongoing campaign against airports. Here below, we provide verified and/or verifiable facts, responding to their accusations.

ACCUSATION 1: Charges at the largest airports have doubled (+100%) in 10 years while average fares have fallen from €199 to €96 in the same period.

CHECKED FACTS: Charges at these airports have not doubled, but they have increased by +25.4%. That increase was exclusively driven by investment in capacity & quality and regulatory requirements in the fields of security and PRMs.
Source: Leveraging Airport Investment to Drive the EU's Aviation Strategy

Beyond these largest airports, the report by the EC's external consultants (SDG) shows for all airports under the scope of the EU Directive on Airport Charges (89 airports) an average increase in charge of +23.3% between 2009 and 2016 - and that is without even accounting for the extensive rebates and incentives offered to airlines by airports to develop their connectivity.

Prices paid for air tickets by consumers to airlines increased by +29% in 10 years according to Eurostat.

ACCUSATION 2: Lower airport charges would be passed onto consumers by airlines, leading to lower air fares and boosting European economies.

CHECKED FACTS: Air fares are primarily driven by the level of airline competition on any given routes, along with fuel cost and labor cost - not airport charges. On monopoly air routes, airlines charge high air fares that bear no relation to airport charges.

For example, Brussels Airlines is selling a Brussels-Strasbourg return fare for next week (session of the European Parliament) for between €700 and €928 in economy class. No other airline is operating the route.

ACCUSATION 3: The current regulatory system incentivises airports to spend exorbitant amounts of money at the expense of airlines and passengers.

CHECKED FACTS:
Europe needs more airport capacity to accommodate the traffic growth that is forecast. EUROCONTROL has confirmed this in its
Challenges of Growth studies.
Source: http://www.eurocontrol.int/articles/challenges-growth

User charges allow airports to invest in much needed airport capacity and quality that meets consumer demand, supports air connectivity and benefits the European economy.

The top 21 European airports invested €53 billion over a 10 year period, allowing an increase in airport capacity of €177.4 million passengers per annum - the equivalent of adding a Paris-CDG, Paris-Orly and London Heathrow to the European aviation network.

Traffic over the same period at these airports grew +168.5 million passengers - meaning that such investment was almost perfectly in line with demand.

The capacity created allowed these airports to increase their direct air connectivity by +10.7% and their passenger satisfaction ratings by +12.4%
A4E's position on airport charges reflects their desire to restrict airport investment, limiting access by new airline competitors. At capacity constrained airports, European passengers are already paying €2.1bn in higher fares, due to the congestion and the ability of airlines to extract scarcity rents, as no new competitors can enter the market. Source: 2017 The Impact of Airport Capacity Constraints on Air Fares

Airlines also accrue money from airport congestion by cashing in the value of slots at congested airports. Proceeds from slot sales could be allocated to infrastructure development, rather than European airline profits, as recently advocated by the Economist.