Surprise over Minister's plan to review decision on air traffic control charges

THERE WERE a few raised eyebrows in aviation circles this month when the Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar set up an appeal panel to review the decision last year of the aviation regulator to cut air traffic control charges by 40 per cent over a four-year period out to 2015.

Especially as the Minister had “welcomed” the decision in a press release issued on October 25th last year.

“This is a very welcome decision by the Commission for Aviation Regulation ,” Varadkar added. “Lower costs for airlines, even marginal ones, will help the Government’s efforts to encourage more visitors to Ireland and build on the tourism-promotion measures in the jobs initiative.”

It seems the Irish Aviation Authority, which is responsible for air traffic control, wasn’t so chuffed by Cathal Guiomard’s determination and, as it is entitled to do under the legislation, appealed the matter to the Minister, who has set up a panel to consider the appeal.

The panel comprises senior counsel Tony O’Connor, Richard Cummins, a partner with accountants Baker Tilly Ryan Glennon and Liam Twohig, a former head of air traffic control with the air corps at Baldonnel aerodrome. They must conclude their work within three months.

All of which means that just more than a year will have elapsed between the determination being announced and the appeal panel giving its view on the matter. It’s not exactly Concorde pace.

Meanwhile, plans announced late last year to merge CAR with the IAA, as part of its drive to rationalise the number of state agencies, are being tweaked.

CAR is a pure regulator while the IAA has both a regulatory role and commercial one when it comes to air traffic control.

The Government has now decided that a combination of the two would result in the merged body regulating itself and that it now makes more sense to restructure them into a regulator and an air traffic control company.

Varadkar recently said this would require “specific legislation” and the department is to examine with “considerable care” the issues arising including funding models and evolving policy developments at EU level. In aviation parlance, the merger is in a holding pattern.