French-owned airports operator ANA is hiking its fees to airlines this December.
ANA, owned by the French infrastructure giant Vinci Group, commented today that this increase represents an average increase of 40 cents per passenger to a value still “15% below prices in other European countries."
The fees charged to airlines will rise 7.56% at Lisbon airport and 1.50% at Oporto airport from December 1, 2014 due, rather perversely, to an “increase in traffic above forecasts.” An increase for Faro landings has yet to be announced.
In a statement on ANA’s website, the management explained that "the cumulative traffic as of June 30, 2014 is significantly higher than we forecast in 2013,” and this trend is predicted to grow.
The chairman of ANA’s Board of Directors, Jorge Ponce de Leon, said that there was revenue he needed to claw back and that this seemed a good time to do it, adding that the increase will bring “only partial recovery" of the amount due.
Ponce de Leon then waffled about ‘stable trends and safety margins’ while charging whatever he feels his shareholders want.
The danger is that the ANA charging structure, known in the trade as a ‘stiffing the tourist fee,’ will spread to the Algarve’s Faro airport where any further cost hikes by airlines, which will pass on any ANA fee increases, will not be welcomed by the tourism industry.
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