Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 10 Dec 1998

Vol. 498 No. 3

Written Answers - Airport Charges.

Pat Rabbitte

Question:

17 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if her attention has been drawn to a publicity campaign being waged by a company (details supplied) against Aer Rianta over the level of landing fees charged at Dublin Airport; the price per passenger charged by Aer Rianta to this company at Dublin Airport; the proportion of an average ticket charged by the airline represented by the landing charge; the total amount of rebates allowed to this company by Aer Rianta in respect of landing charges or other charges in each of the past five years; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26981/98]

Emmet Stagg

Question:

24 Mr. Stagg asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the airlines that have benefited from the Aer Rianta discount scheme on landing charges at Dublin Airport; the benefits in cash to the individual airlines for each year since the discount scheme was introduced; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26925/98]

Róisín Shortall

Question:

59 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the position in relation to the State aids investigation by the EU Commission regarding the landing charges discount scheme operated by Aer Rianta; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26910/98]

Minister for Public Enterprise (Mrs. O'Rourke)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 17, 24 and 59 together.

I wish to refer Deputies to my earlier reply to the priority question on Aer Rianta's charges, where I clarified the general position in relation to landing fees at Dublin Airport.

In response to the Deputies' more specific queries, Aer Rianta has provided me with details on the level of discounts achieved by each airline at Dublin Airport for the years 1994 to 1997 inclusive and these have been set out in a table appended as part of this reply. Estimates of discounts applicable for the period from January to October 1998 have also been provided by Aer Rianta. I wish to clarify, however, that these estimates may be subject to amendment, following final calculations by the airport company at year end.

The Ryanair annual report for the year ending 31 March 1998 cites a figure of IR£40.96 as the average passenger fare for a Ryanair one-way ticket. Aer Rianta has informed me that Ryanair is charged an average fee of £1.94 per passenger at Dublin Airport. This charge by Aer Rianta (Mrs. represents 4.7 per cent of the average Ryanair ticket price. The total rebates allowed to Ryanair for the years 1994 to 1997 was over £21.5 million. The estimated rebate in the current year to October 1998 is £7.2 million, but this figure may be subject to revision when figures are finalised at the year end.

Turning to Deputy Shortall's question, the position is that last March, the European Commission sought information on aspects of Aer Rianta's airport charges regime and, in particular, the substantial discount schemes in respect of growth traffic. The concern was that these discounts could constitute a distortion of competition. The Commission was supplied with full information and following this, in October last, the Commission met with Aer Rianta and officials of my Department. The Commission's examination of the schemes has not yet been concluded.

Dublin Airport	Traffic Incentive Scheme
Airline	1994	1995	1996	1997	Estimated Jan.-Oct., '98
	£	£	£	£	£
Aer Lingus	1,426,241.37	3,059,427.05	5,372,790.54	7,044,550.88	6,489,813.21
Ryanair	2,002,258.56	4,209,892.89	6,587,944.73	8,700,964.78	7,201,612.09
BA City Flyers	183,895.29	232,467.33	321,928.30	648,177.18	762,673.21
British Midland	319,304.12	533,439.10	1,049,341.74	1,223,353.30	1,111,644.05
City Jet	309,561.42	478,833.22	519,041.21	752,355.11	835,822.34
SAS	28,858.92	129,401.95	152,878.22	290,168.58	263,842.91
Manx Airlines	149,814.84	78,072.98	77,715.64	117,637.79	117,885.86
Lufthansa	52,919.88	128,007.95	160,305.33	135,616.05	199,825.73
Aer France-Air Inter	17,447.54	41,975.72	84,565.26	20,488.66	–
Viva Air	17,769.48	63,390.03	–	–	–
Air Malta	14,583.09	29,634.41	15,734.21	12,728.10	32,013.46
Crossair	42,553.36	81,465.00	93,973.73	82,673.00	87,713.94
Alitalia	48,269.14	99,911.37	195,890.99	165,527.69	87,505.35
Delta	25,860.94	46,596.40	122,186.67	97,851.35	65,790.91
Iberia	2,534.49	15,819.07	18,781.75	60,427.99	75,238.21
Sabena	1,511.20	11,199.80	21,648.04	16,090.42	10,269.91
Air South West	22,327.19	27,123.62	16,458.05	5,004.31	4,560.60
Euro Direct	22,649.87	–	–	–	–
ATS Vulcan	4,301.99	–	–	–	–
Loganair	8,330.48	–	–	–	–
Orient Air	530.10	–	–	–	–
European Airways	–	2,122.91	83.99	–	–
Lauda Air	–	10,805.81	–	–	–
Hamburg Airlines	–	9,539.47	82,281.27	47,933.40	–
TAP	–	86,120.28	86,197.62	77,276.42	70,986.02
Aeroflot	–	8,962.19	5,075.09	4,716.56	16,374.10
Jersey European	–	27,843.46	45,802.04	54,905.20	36,872.57
EI Air Exports	–	–	18,658.90	13,358.61	642.84
Comed Aviation	–	–	3,467.34	238.27	18.00
Air Engiadina	–	–	3,126.00	40,787.66	34,455.63
Continental	–	–	–	–	193,005.43
Tyroleon	–	–	–	–	61,548.82
British Regional	–	–	–	–	77,845.21
Finair				79,015.15	124,178.61