Price rises imposed by monopoly-holding air traffic services (ATS) providers on airlines already in financial trouble are unacceptable, the Association of European Airlines (AEA) says.
Average ATS price rises throughout Europe for this year are 12%, according to the AEA, while airline trading activity has been down 17.6% compared with the same period a year ago. "As airlines, our access to the airspace above Europe is controlled by a multitude of service providers, each one having a monopoly over a country-shaped piece of sky," complains AEA secretary general Karl-Heinz Neumeister. He adds: "Whatever they choose to spend, they can recover it from their airline customers simply by adjusting their prices."
Belgium, for example, has increased its 2002 charges by 27.6%, while Spain's have risen by 20.8%. Bulgaria and Croatia, however, actually reduced their charges in 2001 and for 2002.
The AEA has long made clear its backing for ATS privatisation. It notes that the UK's recently part-privatised National Air Traffic Services (NATS) has filed for government permission to raise charges, but by far less than the European average. Locked into an agreement signed before 11 September to reduce real prices each year, NATS partner the Airline Group has asked permission to increase prices in real terms by 4% this year, 3% in 2003 and 2% in 2004. The UK government has not yet responded.
Source: Flight International