European Economic and Social Committee
Public Hearing on
Airport Capacity in the EU
Brussels, 30 September 2014, 10:00 – 13:00
Venue: EESC–2, rue van Maerlant – 1040 Brussels(Room VM3)
CONCEPT NOTE
In recent years, airport capacity has been under public discussion for two main reasons: the loss of central airport hub capacity to non-EU competitors such as Turkey and the Gulf states; and the 'Ryanair Syndrome' which consists inlow-cost airlines rapidly boosting the capacity of smaller regional airports whereas they arenot stable users in the long run.
There are many links to other aviation policy areas such as international relations, state aid, Single European Sky and multimodality.
It has been estimated that by 2030 some 20 of Europe's biggest airports will operate at full capacity eight hours a day, every day of the year. Central hubs in particular are havingdifficulty managingincreasing traffic volumesand parameters such as night curfews. In addition, suspended runway extension plans do not help to solve the dilemma.
Two recent reports have highlighted that a capacity crunch would have wide-reaching consequences for the Union's aviation sector as a whole:
Challenges of Growthby Eurocontrol, andthe
ConnectivityReportbyAirports Council International (ACI).
Sincethe EESC has a strong record ondrawing up strategic opinions onaviation, the European Commission has called on the Committee to bring more light tothe current policy debatearound airport capacity. The EESC's rapporteur, Jacek Krawczyk, is convening this public hearing to enablethe various interested parties to voice their opinions, to approach the subject from as many different angles as possible and, in particular, to bring hands-on experience and good practice from Member States into the debate.
In the ongoing debate on airport capacity, most seem to agree that there is enough capacity in the EU, but that it is not all in the right place. This argument had already been made in the Commission's 2011 Airport Package.While the package did not address capacity as such, it advocatedeliminatingsome of the obstacles through a more efficient use of existing resources relating to aircraft noise (agreed between the Council and Parliament last January) slot allocation and ground handling (both still under negotiation in the Council). Since then, the Commission has reactivated its European Observatory on Airport Capacity, as a dialogue forum with the main stakeholders.
The questions asked at this hearing will include the following.
Should European policymakers push for more capacity or for better use of existing capacity?
Should competition between airports increase?
What should be done about persisting monopolies in the sector?
What about the US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) example of providing direct guidance on aviation black spots?
How can dialogue with local communities be improved?
What is the best way for EU politicians to address the shift of airport capacity from the EU to other markets?
How can we improve data on EU airport capacity?
How can we better tackle environmental issues related to airports now and in the future?
Is there room for international aviation policy to improve airport capacity utilisation/build-up (TTIP)?
Can we better coordinate airports in the EU (SES, SESAR, state aid)?