As has been mentioned elsewhere, the EU this week has made a decision as to what state-owned regional airports can or can't do with regards to Govt money subsidising airport operating losses and investments
EUROPA - PRESS RELEASES - Press release - Speech: Introductory remarks on new guidelines for state aid to airports and airlines
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/publ...014/002_en.pdf
Ryanair seems to fly to these airports more than most airlines. Anyone care to suggest how this will impact Ryanair's flying and business model ?
My guess is
- Most constrained airports - Charleroi, Beauvais and Bergamo
- Constrained but not quite so much - Eindhoven, Girona, Hahn and Skavsta
I'm sure the 10 year transition period for airports with between 700,000 and 3m pax will have an effect but I haven't figured out what it'll be exactly - probably incentivises managers at these airports to look at the following options:
a) go all out for high growth in the hope of making profits based on high pax volumes
b) raise airport charges to keep pax numbers at no more than 699k per year and avoid EU constraints
c) raise airport charges so that airlines are no longer subsidised by the taxpayer
Airports in this category might include some of:
Santander, Reus, Malmo, Goteborg (GSE only, not GOT), Kaunas, Memmingen, Baden-Baden, Weeze, Bremen, Trieste, Alghero, Trapani, Brindisi, Treviso, Knock, Prestwick
Additionally one needs to think about the stability of these rules and the capacity of elected politicians to influence these rules. Will these rules be fixed forever or is it more likely that in about 8 years time someone at EU will decide to alter them slightly based on a changed competitive environment within the airline industry ?
Of course, if an airport can bring in 5m passengers per year, it should be more than capable of running at a profit.
Anyone else have comments or insight on this ?