GENEVA, 29 April 2022: The International Air Transport\nAssociation (IATA) warns that a proposed 37% increase in airport charges in the\nNetherlands could risk significant damage to the recovery of air connectivity\nin the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite input from IATA and several airlines, the regulator\nfor airport charges at Schiphol confirmed last week it accepted the airport’s\nposition that due to losses incurred during the Covid-19 shutdown, it must\nraise airport charges by a cumulative 37% over the next three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Air travel has still not recovered from Covid-19, and the\nimpacts in the Netherlands at the height of the crisis caused passenger traffic\nto fall by more than 70%, at the cost of around 200,000 aviation-supported\njobs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A gradual recovery is underway, but the foundations are\nweak, IATA noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IATA\u2019s Connectivity Index shows the Netherlands is still 35%\nbelow its 2019 peak. At this crucial time, the regulator\u2019s decision puts the\ncountry\u2019s position as one of the most competitive European air transport hubs\nat risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dutch regulator\u2019s stance is in sharp contrast with the\nposition taken by other independent regulators in the region that try to\nprotect the consumer, IATA noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Spain, the regulator rejected the claims from the airport\noperator that it needed to recover its pandemic losses. The Spanish regulator\ncalculated that the airport operator had sufficient cash reserves to cover the\nshortfall and would benefit from growing traffic in coming years \u2013 and it has\nfrozen charges for the next three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Schiphol is in a similar situation, and the regulator should\nbe similarly robust. Pre-pandemic, Schiphol declared EUR 742 million of\ndividends over the 2015-19 period, and it has several options to cover its\nlosses. Schiphol can easily finance short-term losses without increasing costs\nto its customers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Schiphol airport and its regulator have completely\nfailed to consider the exceptional circumstances that were created by Covid-19.\nThe cost recovery system was never expected to operate in circumstances where\ndemand would collapse for an extended period due to government-imposed travel\nrestrictions. It cannot be reasonable to dump a 37% increase on airlines and\npassengers. Nor is it sensible to put such costs onto air transport in the\nNetherlands when other cost pressures, including rising environmental taxes,\nare already damaging the competitive position of Dutch aviation,” said\nIATA’s regional vice president for Europe Rafael Schvartzman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
(Source: IATA)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GENEVA, 29 April 2022: The International Air Transport Association (IATA) warns that a proposed 37% increase in airport charges in the Netherlands could risk significant damage to the recovery of air connectivity in the country. Despite input from IATA and several airlines, the regulator for airport charges at Schiphol confirmed last week it accepted the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2125,267],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-204290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-airports-2","7":"category-europe"},"yoast_head":"\n