Passengers through Dublin airport face 26% increase in charges next year

PASSENGERS travelling through Dublin airport will face a rise of up to 26 per cent in charges next year due to the collapse in traffic numbers and the cost of constructing the second terminal.

This increase comes on top of the €10 tourist tax imposed by the Government earlier this year, with airlines predicting it will further damage traffic numbers.

The Commission for Aviation Regulation has increased the maximum amount the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) can charge each passenger from the current price cap of €7.39 to €9.32 next year if Terminal 2 is completed by November 1st, 2010.

If this condition is not met, the price cap for the year will be €8.93 a passenger.

In 2011, the maximum airport charge will rise to €10.44 – a jump of more than 40 per cent from the current level – provided the second terminal is in operation.

Theoretically, the DAA could choose not to increase passenger charges to the new maximum permitted level, but in practice it has tended to set charges close to the regulatory price cap.

The commission’s decision has attracted sharp criticism from airlines, with Ryanair accusing the regulator of operating an “anti-consumer cartel” to protect the DAA “monopoly”.

The commission said passenger traffic at Dublin airport would have dropped by as much as 13 per cent by the end of the year from 2008 levels and that the maximum charge to each passenger had to be increased as there were fewer passengers to bear the fixed costs of running the airport.

The new price caps are also designed to allow the DAA to charge each passenger an additional €2.33 (in a full year of operating the terminal) to recoup the costs of building the second terminal.

The Commissioner for Aviation Regulation, Cathal Guiomard, told The Irish Timeshe did not believe the increases would have the effect of further dampening traffic levels through Dublin airport.

In a statement yesterday, the DAA said charges at Dublin airport had fallen by 30 per cent in real terms over the past 20 years.

The increases enabled by the commission’s decision would “keep the airport’s passenger charge highly competitive” compared to Dublin airport’s European peers, which it said charged an average of €12.50 in 2008.

However, Ryanair condemned the commission’s determination, arguing that other airports in Europe were reducing their charges, in some cases to zero, “to stimulate traffic and tourism growth”.

The low-cost airline predicted that the airport fee increases would “cause a further collapse in traffic and tourism in 2010”.

British low-cost airline BMI called on the commission to force the DAA to reduce its costs and bring down airport charges.

It warned that increasing passenger charges would “force airlines to reduce frequency and push incumbent airlines out of Dublin airport”.

However, Chambers Ireland’s transport users’ council said airlines must play a part in contributing to infrastructure investments, such as the second terminal.