Aviation Authority Wants To Cut Airport Charges

It has been proposes that the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), the national aviation regulator, cut passenger charges over the next five years by 22%. The Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) has proposed that the DAA reduce the amount it charges airlines for passengers travelling through the airport by 4.8% a year from their current maximum of €10.68 a head to €8.35 by 2019.   Cathal Guiomard, the commissioner of CAR, stated that the savings would be possible because the airport’s running costs are lower than predicted in 2009, when the charges were last fixed, while the number of people using it is likely to grow by 3% a year to 24 million in 2019. "We propose to pass through the benefits of these developments to airport passengers beginning in 2011", Guimard said.   Ordinarily airports pass on charges to their customers; the commissioner said yesterday that the reductions should have some impact on air fares.   The DAA, however, wants to be allowed to cap the figure at €13.50, which it claims is a fair fiscal return. The firm has stated that it will not charge this amount, and will instead leave its prices "flat in real terms".   Kevin Toland, its CEO, pledged that the DAA would not seek any increase beyond inflation.   The company also pointed that the commission’s figures are based on the premise of scrapping 648 jobs (one third of its workforce), over the next five years. "But the regulator fails to explain how this could be achieved, or paid for, and how Dublin Airport would continue to operate in those circumstances" a DAA spokesperson stated.