Stansted charges plan referred to competition body
Airlines will tomorrow get more of an indication of what charges they face for using one of the UK’s busiest holiday airports for the period 2009-14.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has been consulting on a range of options for the charging regime at Stansted airport in Essex where there are plans for a second runway and a major expansion.
Tomorrow the CAA will refer its latest findings to the Competition Commission (CC) which will publish its own report next autumn.
A final decision on just how much airport operator BAA can charge airlines, who include low-fare carrier Ryanair, will be made by the CAA in March 2009, with the new charges taking effect from April 1 2009.
The CAA regulates Stansted charges and has recently set price caps at Gatwick and Heathrow which run for five years from April 1 2008.
The CAA wanted Stansted to be deregulated which would have allowed Spanish-owned BAA to set charges. But Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly ruled that the CAA should continue to regulate Stansted charges in order to “protect passengers”.
BAA operates seven UK airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, and the company’s airport-running role is currently the subject of a long-running inquiry by the CC.
In an interim report last week, the commission heavily criticised BAA and was also critical of the CAA regulatory set up. This prompted Ms Kelly to announce a Government review of airport economic regulation.
However, this review will not affect the 2008-13 Heathrow and Gatwick airport charging scheme nor the charging plans that the CAA will eventually announce for Stansted for 2009-14.
