ACI EUROPE calls on the European Commission to extend the EU State aid Guidelines to regional airports, so that they can continue contributing to the connectivity, competitiveness and cohesion of Europe’s regions but also decarbonise and facilitate the deployment of zero-emission aircraft.

Responding to the recent initial public consultation on the review of the 2014 EU Aviation State Aid Guidelines, ACI EUROPE today urged the European Commission to ensure that smaller regional airports would still be able to receive operating aid in the future and to better align the Guidelines with the aviation sector’s decarbonisation imperative.

These key asks are backed by a newly released comprehensive study into the profitability of Europe’s regional airports.

Due to the high fixed infrastructure costs and lack of economies of scale — in short, the fact that operating an airport has a high base cost regardless of passenger numbers — regional airports often face the challenge of financial viability. In recognition of this, the Aviation State aid Guidelines have allowed those airports with less than 3 million passengers per annum to receive State aid aimed at covering their operating costs deficit (operating aid). This was done in recognition of the crucial role these airports play for the connectivity of their communities and the economic development of the EU.

However, the Guidelines also put an end date to such operating aid: initially by 2024, later prolonged to 2027. These deadlines were set based on the assumption that over time, all airports with more than 200,000 passengers per annum would be able to cover their operating cost and become profitable by raising their user charges, attracting new traffic, and achieving more cost efficiencies.

Yet, the study reveals that this has not been the case and that this is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future for airports with less than 1 million passengers per annum. This means the review of the Aviation State Aid Guidelines must ensure operating aid to these airports will be extended beyond 2027.

ACI EUROPE also recommended that the Aviation Guidelines should include a section specifically dedicated to aid for environmental protection, to cover the necessary investments linked to decarbonisation of airports, regardless of their size. 

The recently released Draghi report supports the necessity to finance decarbonisation solutions, placing the cost of decarbonisation at € 61 billion a year for aviation. Given the scale of investment needed, there is an unquestionable need to grant state aid to airports, in order to enable them to adapt to EU standards in relation to the objectives of the Green Deal.