EUROPE. Four trade associations from across the airport operations sector have submitted a joint letter calling for “urgent supporting measures” for companies throughout the industry.
The joint letter from Airports Council International (ACI) Europe, the European Travel Retail Confederation (ETRC), the Airline Catering Association (ACA) and Airport Services Association (ASA) urges the European Commission and national governments to act immediately to safeguard the travel retail and airport services sectors.
The letter firstly demands a European Aviation Relief Programme that is fully coordinated with EU/EEA states, Switzerland and industry stakeholders.
The associations also call for countries to implement “comprehensive, inclusive and non-discriminatory support to the entire aviation eco-system”.
The letter adds: “Assuming current travel restrictions and flight bans would be lifted towards the end of April and followed by a gradual recovery in demand for air transport, ACI Europe’s revised assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is for a loss of more than 700 million passengers at Europe’s airports in 2020 – representing a decrease in passenger footfall of -28% compared to a business-as-usual scenario. This represents a €14 billion (US$14.85 billion) hit in lost revenues for Europe’s airport operators alone, without taking into account the massive losses that the other service providers at airports will inevitably incur.”
Finally, the associations emphasise that any supporting measure should not benefit one actor in the aviation ecosystem at the expense of another. “In this regard, while we welcome an immediate waiver on the airport slots usage rule, its extension at this stage for the full summer season to the benefit of airlines risks not meeting such a requirement. Indeed, should the recovery happen before the end of the Summer season, the waiver will allow airlines to cancel flights for commercial or operational reasons no longer motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This would not just impact the revenues of airport operators and service providers at airports – but also the recovery of air connectivity and thus the wider economy,” the associations say.
The letter, signed by ACI Europe Director General Olivier Jankovec, ETRC Secretary General Julie Lassaigne and ACA & ASA Director General Fabio Gamba, concludes: “They [the measures] obviously need to be calibrated to the specific situation of airport operators and service providers at airports. But they all aim at the same objectives: addressing operational and business continuity risk before they materialise and allowing airport operators and service providers at airports to be ready when the recovery comes – so that they can, together with airlines, boost the rest of the economy.”
