Deanw
15th Dec 2005, 10:14
Iata steps in to halt Acsa’s tariff-hike plan
Khulu Phasiwe
GENEVA — The International Air Transport Association (Iata) said yesterday it had attempted to stop the Airports Company SA (Acsa) from imposing above-inflation airport charge rises to fund its planned capital investment programme.
Iata director-general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said he had held meetings with President Thabo Mbeki and Transport Minister Jeff Radebe on his visit to SA in October to talk about the increases, designed to fund the utility’s R5,2bn spending programme.
The planned projects include building new terminals and bigger car parking areas at Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban airports ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
Other, smaller, airports will also be upgraded.
Bisignani would not be drawn to say whether Mbeki and Radebe had given him assurances that the planned tariffs would not be above inflation. He said however, that Mbeki as an economist, “understood” that high airport tariffs could put a damper on air traffic and slow down economic growth.
Acsa said in August it was considering raising passenger service charges and aircraft landing fees by above-inflation margins to enable it to fund its five-year capital expenditure programme.
This was not fair, Bisignani said.
“The situation where airports spend and airlines pay is not the basis for a successful partnership,” he said.
Government is pushing for a reduction in the cost of doing business in SA as part of the country’s push to reach an average 6% growth rate by 2014.
Iata, which represents 265 airlines, had negotiated with Japan’s Narita and Copenhagen airports to reduce their tariffs and encourage traffic growth, Bisignani said.
Narita airport had agreed to reduce an overall 11% on its tariffs, a move that would save the airline industry $86m a year.
Other airports that had reduced their tariffs included Brisbane, Changi, San Francisco, Athens and Melbourne, he said.
“But there are still many airports that are living in another age. Aeroports de Paris, for example, wants to increase charges 35% over the next five years. Unfortunately, they are not alone. Airports from Amsterdam to Caracas are planning increases too,” said Bisignani.
He said meetings were planned with airports, including Acsa, in a bid to convince then to lower their tariffs. “if airports do not co-operate, we will call on governments to intervene”, Bisignani said.
Iata chief economist Brian Pearce said the body, meeting this week, had reviewed its position about the industry’s projected losses as a result of a stabilising oil price.
Iata initially projected a net loss of $7,4bn for the industry this year based on its projections that the oil price would level off at $57 a barrel.
“We now expect the oil prices to average $54 a barrel this year, and as a result we have lowered our forecast for industry net loss to $6bn,” said Pearce.
However, the US airlines were expected to post a net loss of $10bn as a result of their restructuring costs and interest on debt.
Iata said if oil prices remained stable and the airlines cut costs and improved their operating efficiencies, the global airline industry could reduce its losses to $4,3bn next year and post a net profit of $6bn in 2007.
Business Day
Khulu Phasiwe
GENEVA — The International Air Transport Association (Iata) said yesterday it had attempted to stop the Airports Company SA (Acsa) from imposing above-inflation airport charge rises to fund its planned capital investment programme.
Iata director-general and CEO Giovanni Bisignani said he had held meetings with President Thabo Mbeki and Transport Minister Jeff Radebe on his visit to SA in October to talk about the increases, designed to fund the utility’s R5,2bn spending programme.
The planned projects include building new terminals and bigger car parking areas at Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban airports ahead of the 2010 World Cup.
Other, smaller, airports will also be upgraded.
Bisignani would not be drawn to say whether Mbeki and Radebe had given him assurances that the planned tariffs would not be above inflation. He said however, that Mbeki as an economist, “understood” that high airport tariffs could put a damper on air traffic and slow down economic growth.
Acsa said in August it was considering raising passenger service charges and aircraft landing fees by above-inflation margins to enable it to fund its five-year capital expenditure programme.
This was not fair, Bisignani said.
“The situation where airports spend and airlines pay is not the basis for a successful partnership,” he said.
Government is pushing for a reduction in the cost of doing business in SA as part of the country’s push to reach an average 6% growth rate by 2014.
Iata, which represents 265 airlines, had negotiated with Japan’s Narita and Copenhagen airports to reduce their tariffs and encourage traffic growth, Bisignani said.
Narita airport had agreed to reduce an overall 11% on its tariffs, a move that would save the airline industry $86m a year.
Other airports that had reduced their tariffs included Brisbane, Changi, San Francisco, Athens and Melbourne, he said.
“But there are still many airports that are living in another age. Aeroports de Paris, for example, wants to increase charges 35% over the next five years. Unfortunately, they are not alone. Airports from Amsterdam to Caracas are planning increases too,” said Bisignani.
He said meetings were planned with airports, including Acsa, in a bid to convince then to lower their tariffs. “if airports do not co-operate, we will call on governments to intervene”, Bisignani said.
Iata chief economist Brian Pearce said the body, meeting this week, had reviewed its position about the industry’s projected losses as a result of a stabilising oil price.
Iata initially projected a net loss of $7,4bn for the industry this year based on its projections that the oil price would level off at $57 a barrel.
“We now expect the oil prices to average $54 a barrel this year, and as a result we have lowered our forecast for industry net loss to $6bn,” said Pearce.
However, the US airlines were expected to post a net loss of $10bn as a result of their restructuring costs and interest on debt.
Iata said if oil prices remained stable and the airlines cut costs and improved their operating efficiencies, the global airline industry could reduce its losses to $4,3bn next year and post a net profit of $6bn in 2007.
Business Day