Official duties were detached from the commercial enterprise into a separate office called the Civil Aviation Authority on Jan. 1. 2006. The Civil Aviation Authority is funded by a levy on the Civil Aviation Administration (Finavia) of about 6 million euros, and customer fees. The normal funding for an official body, from the national budget, does not apply. In order for the independent authority to best guarantee safety and the other functions required of it, whilst helping to promote aviation development, it should also receive normal state funding.

The Civil Aviation Administration will continue to invest heavily in the future. Over the next few years capital spending will reach as much as 70–80 million euros a year, which is exceptionally high for a turnover of about 250 million euros. We therefore need a good income to secure our fi nancial base. We also need new borrowing and faith in the future. Only then can our own activities ensure Finnish competitiveness.

We are committed to the goal of passing only half of the changes in costs on to charges, the only exception being security charges. Thus the fees for our activities will actually fall in real terms.

This goal requires constant improvement in cost effectiveness. It will be supported by the controlled growth that we expect. The biggest single capital investment will be the new phase of the terminal serving the growing Asian traffi c at Helsinki-Vantaa, which will begin this autumn.

We are also investing in services through our subsidiaries. An international gateway hotel is to be built right next to the international terminal at Helsinki- Vantaa. New office facilities will go up within walking distance of the terminals, while passenger services will be improved with the construction of a huge new multistorey car park at Helsinki-Vantaa.