Airport charges may rise later this year with the aviation regulator, Mr William Prasifka, announcing his intention to review the current charging structure in late August.
Mr Prasifka said unless there was a "change in circumstances" he intended to review the charges imposed by Aer Rianta on airlines using its facilities, sometime after August 26th. He said there were several grounds for conducting a review, including the commercial consequences of September 11th and the fallout from events in Iraq.
He said information which had been exchanged by his office and Aer Rianta during recent judicial review proceedings also played a part in his decision.
While Mr Prasifka is entitled to maintain the current charging regime, most observers expect him to approve a rise in Aer Rianta's charges. Mr Prasifka said he was aware of the plans for a second terminal at Dublin Airport and proposals to break up Aer Rianta into three companies.
In a separate development, it now appears that Aer Rianta will appeal a recent decision in favour of Mr Prasifka to the Supreme Court. On April 3rd, the High Court ruled against Aer Rianta's claims that Mr Prasifka was wrong in law when he capped the company's level of capital expenditure over a five-year period.
While the company has not lodged formal papers yet, The Irish Times understands Aer Rianta plans to appeal and is hoping to point to some flaws in the original judgement. It has until late May to lodge a formal appeal.
The ratings agency Standard & Poors recently predicted that Aer Rianta's financial position would deteriorate over the next three years because of the cap on its capital expenditure.
It said the company would have to make up for lost airport charges by increasing the amount of commercial revenue it makes from the three airports. While Aer Rianta will welcome the news of a new review, the aviation landscape could be radically different by the time Mr Prasifka undertakes his work.
The Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, hopes to bring proposals for a new terminal at Dublin to Cabinet shortly and he also remains committed to breaking Aer Rianta into three competing companies.
Mr Prasifka has previously argued that three quarters of Aer Rianta's investment plans cannot be justified - in terms of making the airport more cost effective - and thus they cannot be supported from landing charges.
While the fresh review may reinforce this position, Mr Prasifka may have to take account this time of the downturn in the aviation sector and the reduction in traffic.
Mr Prasifka will be reviewing a "determination" he made two years ago. The procedure will involve submissions from interested parties, including Aer Rianta. The airlines, particularly low cost operators like Ryanair, are likely to strongly resist any rise in charges. Other airlines have also previously complained about how Aer Rianta uses the money it gets from charges.
