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SAA faces higher charges for flying over European countries
November 24, 2009
Airlines, including SAA and others from Africa, already suffering from a worldwide drop in international passengers, are now faced with a threat of higher charges for over-flying 19 countries in Europe.
Protesting against the proposed increases, to take effect in 2010, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Tuesday that they would add $360 million to the total cost of overflying the region.
The European Commission has backed a request by IATA to all providers of air navigation services in the continent to freeze or reduce their rates for the coming year.
The proposals for higher rates were made in advance of Tuesday's meeting of the Eurocontrol enlarged committee for route charges that will be attended by states representing air navigation service providers and airlines in the region.
Not all countries are planning to increase their charges. Eight - Belgium, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Macedonia and Cyprus propose to freeze their rates at the level charged this year.
Another seven - Portugal, Greece, Croatia, Moldova, Malta, Bulgaria and Finland, say they will reduce their rates.
But the majority, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, and Austria, are proposing to charge more.
The UK, which some airlines and the travel industry say has discouraged leisure travellers by the high level of its airport departure taxes, and high visa charges for South Africans, is proposing an increase of 5 percent in unit charges for air traffic navigation services.
France is proposing an increase of 6 percent, and Italy - which most airlines from Africa overfly on their way to northern Europe - 4 percent.
The highest increase , of 32 percent, is proposed by Armenia but according to IATA the greatest impact of the increases, adjusting for the amount of traffic handled, will be on flights over Poland, where the proposed rise will be 18 percent, Romania with 17 percent and Austria with 14 percent.
Giovanni Bisignani, president and director general of IATA, said the increases proposed by "the out of control monopolists completelydivorced from reality, who propose increases in the middle of an unprecedented industry crisis", would wipe out the savings from reductions by other countries.
He said the airline industry needed to cut costs in order to survive.
"The burden must be shared across the value chain, including our air navigation service provider partners. The unacceptable and out of touch proposals from 19 states and their air navigation service providers demonstrate beyond doubt that we must urgently implement a robust performance framework under the single European sky regulations."
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