Over the past thirty years, airports within the EU - including nearly a hundred newly built or rebuilt during that time - have undergone a major economic transformation. From mere infrastructure providers, airports have become diversified and complex commercial enterprises in competition with each other. This is the first and only book thus far to deal with the legal issues surrounding this important development, focusing on the impact of EU Directive 12/2009 on airport charges.
Examining the use of airport infrastructure, the growing competition among airports, and the relations between airlines and airports, the author, a leading aviation law practitioner, covers such issues and topics as the following:
- - types of charges - landing, passenger, aircraft parking;
- - pricing factors determining airport charges;
- - vertical contractual relations between airports and airlines;
- - airport market power and dominance;
- - issues of consultation and transparency;
- - ability of airlines and passengers to switch to alternative airports;
- - application of state aid rules;
- - security charges;
- - environmental charges and schemes; and
- - price discrimination and differentiation.
The presentation encompasses a critical analysis of the findings of case law, both international and European, on airport charges in the context of the new trend of airports and airlines concluding vertical agreements.
As an examination of the economic regulation of EU airports due to the liberalization process, structural changes in the ownership status of many EU airports, and the emergence of new airline business models (such as low-cost carriers), this book, the only one of its kind, will quickly become indispensable to practitioners, policymakers, and academics in aviation law.