Frankfurt hits carriers with price hike

Frankfurt is proposing an increase of 8.4 percent, reportedly to fund future expansion, on top of a hike of about 4.6 percent for what the AEA describes as "central infrastructure." Munich has said it will raise charges by four percent, Air Cargo World reported.

AEA Secretary General Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus said, “Frankfurt Airport could do with a reality check. Its customers are struggling to survive in the current market and the very last thing they need is a cost increase. In better times, such behaviour was unreasonable. During the worst crisis the industry has known, it is completely unacceptable."

The AEA is worried the German move will prompt other European airports - notably the BAA's Heathrow, Paris CDG and Copenhagen - to increase their charges. One exception is Norway, where the airports have frozen fee levels.

“On the High Street, we don’t see supermarkets raising their prices because there are fewer customers coming through their doors, we see price incentives. We don’t see new car dealers doubling their prices because their sales have been halved, we see aggressive discounting. The same goes for the airlines, who are trying to stimulate the market with still more attractive price offers”, said Schulte-Strathaus.
 

Source: Transportweekly