ANA Airports located throughout Portugal have taken to review their tariff proposals and devise some new ones.
Consequently, they have decided to plan for an average increase of €1.60 in airport fees at all national airports in the upcoming year.
In the year 2024, the average surge in regulated fees at all airports located in Portugal will be €1.60, as per sources.
Previously, the proposed increase was almost at 18%, but the authorities decided to settle on a 14.55% hike.
Increases
Reports of the implementation process have revealed that the most significant fee increase will occur in Lisbon.
The city will be raising the percentage levied by 16.98%, which will equal €2.29. Meanwhile, Porto will be raising the fees by 11.92%, which will stand at €0.92.
The executive committee of the Vinci Group has, thus, taken to modify its initially devised plans for tariff updates at national airports.
The change comes in lieu of the decreasing inflation in 27 European countries, as per data revealed.
As of now, the inflation has gone down to 8.8%, as compared to the initial 9.7% recorded at the beginning of the year.
With the revision of the tariff update proposals, the executive committee aims to recover any deviations from revenue that occurred back in 2022.
ANA
As per the ANA, the airport fees for the upcoming year are a necessary update currently as the adjustment aligns with the formulas they outlined in their previously drawn concession contract.
It went on to emphasize that the increase in prices of plane tickets has surpassed the initial fee increase that the authority proposed.
Nevertheless, airlines believed that the increase in prices would be harmful to the travel and tourism sector as a whole. Ryanair, especially, has taken to label the increase as justifiable and excessive.
However, it expressed concerns that the hike could have a negative impact on the national tourism industry, specifically in Madeira and Azores.
Moreover, various other airlines, such as TAP Air Portugal, took to voicing their dissatisfaction with the proposed increase.
According to the authority, the increase will contribute to the deteriorating economic condition of TAP Air Portugal, which is the primary customer of national airports.
However, it has been pointed out that the funds are needed to pay ground staff, air traffic controllers, as well as personnel responsible for offering baggage services.
Fee adjustment
The proposed tariff fee adjustment is going to be taking effect in February 2024. The Azores region is going to be raising the amount to €0.30, while Madeira will raise the figure by €0.80.
In addition, the aviation and airport authorities in Faro revealed that they will be raising the fees by €0.82.
Sources have further added that a likely additional charge of 10% will be applied to every aircraft operating in national airports.
It is also possible that this cost will be transferred to the passengers, hiking up the prices of plane tickets even further.
The fee hike comes after two previous surges earlier in the current year, with the first one adding €3.46 to tariff fee and the second levying €2.88 from individual passengers.
