An EU directive which would have limited the amount small regional airports could charge airlines was amended at the European Parliament in Strasbourg last night.
The proposed directive on airport charges is likely to be formally approved by the parliament today.
It sets out the way in which airports can finance future developments, amend airport charges, and provides for transparency in pricing structures.
It also makes it obligatory to refer to independent regulators where there is disagreement between airport users and the airport.
Some 67 airports across Europe, including Dublin, will be subject to the directive which legislators hope will prevent an airport from abusing its dominant position in the market.
The original European Commission proposal envisaged the directive applying to all airports with passenger numbers greater than one million per anum.
However, a number of MEPs expressed concern that small airports, which were in urgent need of infrastructure, would not be free to set their own charges.
Irish MEP Jim Higgins, who proposed a number of amendments, said the initial directive was of particular concern from an Irish point of view.
"If this approach had been adopted then the directive would have applied to both Shannon and Cork airports and possibly Ireland West airport," he said.
Instead, MEPs accepted his proposal that the new regulatory framework would only apply to airports with a passenger throughput in excess of five million people a year.
"What I have been arguing, and indeed I must commend Dublin Airport Authority who have also been arguing strongly for the smaller Irish airports, is that those airports under the five million passenger per annum threshold are subject to much stronger market forces than larger airports and to subject them to the terms of this directive would be to put an unnecessary stranglehold on regional airports," said Mr Higgins.
The Fine Gael MEP said the public could now expect larger airports to be more transparent with their pricing policies and financing of infrastructural developments.
"We will also see a strong independent regulator in all member states to ensure that airports and airport users do not abuse their market power," he said.
Mr Higgins said smaller Irish airports would now be free from more red tape and costly bureaucracy.