Airline aid targets regional hubs

The European Commission has announced a range of new measures to develop regional airports, which will regulate how start-up aid is granted to carriers opening new routes

"The European Commission wishes to encourage the development of regional airports and personal mobility," says Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot. "These new rules give regional airports the legal certainty they need for their future development."

The new guidelines establish a firm legal framework for agreements between airports and airlines. If an airport decides to grant an airline public aid that is not justified on purely commercial grounds, such aid can be accepted if it covers not more than 30-50 percent of the additional costs incurred in starting up the new service, including marketing and start-up costs. The service benefiting from the aid must ultimately prove profitable; for this reason, such aid must decrease with time and is limited to a maximum of three years (or five years in the case of disadvantaged regions and the outermost regions of the EU).

The airports specifically targeted are those with an annual passenger volume of less than five million, which puts all Polish regional airports directly in the EC's sights.