Airlines facing yet another tax blow

Oct 9 2009 The Journal

A NEW threat facing the regional airlines that are the lifeblood of the North East’s export-led economic recovery was revealed yesterday.

Swingeing new international navigation charges for flying in Europe could disproportionately hit the smaller airlines that are the backbone of the North East’s links with major European centres. Mike Ambrose, director general of the European Regions Airline Association (ERA), meeting at Interlaken, in Switzerland, said moves were afoot to equalise navigation charges for all passenger aircraft.

This would mean that a 29-seater aircraft flying from Newcastle to Norway would face the same charge as 600-seat Airbus, flying from the Far East.

This new threat throws into even clearer focus the need to back The Journal’s call to reverse the Government’s planned hike in Air Passenger Duty (APD), which will hit the regional airline industry at the height of its “economic tsunami”, said Mr Ambrose.

“This is a move by Eurocontrol, the European body that collects all in-flight navigation charges for scheduled flights, to equalise charges that are currently based on the weight of an aircraft,” he explained.

“If it were to happen, it would mean a 30-seater paying the same as a Boeing 747. We, as European operators, would end up paying more, while long-haul operators in the Far East and USA would be subsidised by us.” The threat is in a discussion paper at Eurocontrol, but is a policy promoted by the International Air Transport Association, representing the larger airlines.

“We’ve just been made aware of this but we can’t allow it to gain momentum,” said Mr Ambrose.

He also condemned the planned rise in APD as “absurd and deceitful”.