The major airlines have received further positive news on airportcharges, with the maximum allowable landing charge scheduled to fall by 13 per cent.
Airlines such as Aer Lingus, Ryanair and British Midland have to pay two types of airport charges: those levied by Aer Rianta and a charge imposed by the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) known as an aviation terminal services charge.
This second charge, based on the weight of an aircraft, is levied each time a plane lands at Dublin, Shannon or Cork. The Commission for Aviation Regulation (CAR) has decided in a review that the current cap on this charge should be reduced from €2.31 per tonne to €2 per tonne.
It stressed this was a preliminary decision and would only become final following representations from interested parties.
The CAR said there was an "error" in the formula used to calculate the €2.31 ceiling and this was now being addressed. It said €2.31 was an overstatement.
If the new charges become final, the Irish Aviation Authority will be entitled to charge up to €2 per tonne. However, the authority has been keeping its charges below the ceiling in response to the major downturn in aviation. Its 2004 charge is €1.75 per tonne.
The Irish Aviation Authority does not rely heavily on the terminal service charge. Most of its revenue comes via aircraft which never land in Irish airports at all.
This is because the authority charges airlines who pass through Irish airspace in what is described as "en route" traffic. According to the authority's last report, it made €53 million from "en route" traffic and €7.1 million from the terminal-service charge. The en route charges are not regulated by the aviation regulator, Mr Bill Prasifka.
While Ryanair remains steadfastly opposed to the current charging regime at the airports, some concessions have been won in the last few months.
Last month, the maximum level of charges Aer Rianta is allowed levy on airlines fell once more following a review by Mr Prasifka.
The maximum per-passenger charge allowed to Aer Rianta overall fell from €8.48 to €8.02, a drop of 5.4 per cent. The maximum Dublin Airport charge fell from €5.45 to €5.29, a cut of almost 3 per cent.
Mr Prasifka said that while extra security costs and fewer passengers threatened to push up charges, various technical adjustments ultimately reduced the maximum charges.
Aer Rianta has been charging less than the maximum allowable charge at Cork and Shannon in the past few years, although it is likely to go close to the ceiling at Dublin Airport, where the majority of traffic is generated.
Ryanair claims the regulator has failed to control the inefficiency and excessive costs levied by Aer Rianta at Dublin Airport.
Its chief executive, Mr Michael O'Leary, recently called on the regulator to resign. He added: "Better still, the Government and the Minister for Transport should proceed with their plans to break up the airport monopoly and introduce competition in the form of a second terminal, which will do away with this ineffective and inefficient regulator."
