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EU Commission seeking standardised air traffic charges

Article published
30.8.2016 at 06:57
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The European Commission is seeking to standardise the air traffic charges imposed by airports on airlines. Finavia has looked into this matter and is now starting talks with its airline customers regarding how the Commission's alignment will affect its charges. Finavia’s air traffic charges are the lowest in Europe.

Helsinki Airport is the cheapest hub in Europe for airlines. Compared with other European network airports, Finavia's air traffic charges in general are among the lowest as well. Over the past ten years (2005–2015), the prices of airport services in Finland have decreased annually by 0.9 per cent.

Over the past ten years (2005–2015), the prices of airport services in Finland have decreased annually by 0.9 per cent.

These low prices enable air traffic connections to practically any location in Finland.

Finavia uses “separated pricing”, where charges for domestic air traffic are lower than those for international flights. The reason is that there are significant differences in passenger-specific costs between domestic and international flights.

Passengers on international flights require a more extensive infrastructure than domestic passengers, as well as more services, such as resources for passengers, customer service, luggage handling, and passport and customs control.

With its separated pricing, Finavia fulfils its domestic special statutory duty to promote aviation and supports the accessibility of sparsely populated areas in Finland.

Separated pricing has been a common system throughout Europe. In recent years, however, the European Commission has ordered the airport operators Swedavia in Sweden and Avinor in Norway to standardise their airport charges. Finland is one of the last countries in Europe where separated pricing is still in use.

The European Commission is seeking to standardise the air traffic charges imposed by airports. As part of its annual pricing process, Finavia will start talks with its airline customers regarding the impact of the EU Commission’s objectives on Finavia’s prices in the future. Decisions will be made during 2016.

The development of Finnish airport services and infrastructure is based on Finavia's income and profitability.

Read more about Finavia's prices in the company's annual report.