THE COST of air traffic control services at Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports is set to fall by 40 per cent over the next four years following a price determination issued yesterday by the aviation regulator, Cathal Guiomard.
The charge, which is levied by the Irish Aviation Authority on airlines, will apply from January 1st next until the end of 2015. The charge will decline by 25 per cent next year and by 6 per cent annually for the subsequent years up to 2015.
The decline is due largely to a reduction in capital investment by the authority over the period and was flagged earlier this year following a consultation process.
The authority considered building a new air traffic control tower in Dublin to cope with the expansion in traffic during the economic boom. But this project has been postponed as traffic has declined sharply since 2008.
If passenger traffic exceeds 23.5 million in Dublin over a 12-month period during the time of the determination, and the authority proceeds with upgrading its tower facilities, the regulator will allow it to increase charges.
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar welcomed the cut in charges. “Lower costs for airlines should boost the Government’s efforts to encourage more visitors and build on the tourism-promotion measures in the jobs initiative.”