In some European countries, airport charges have been lowered to support airlines. Austria is taking a different path and freezing the fees. According to Transport Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) one wants to prevent these from becoming cheaper.

In the Alpine republic, the fees that public airports have to levy are regulated in the so-called Airport Fee Act. A rather complicated formula always calculates the fees to be paid by the users on the basis of the previous year's figures. This should - at least in theory - ensure that the airports are in deficit.

If the passenger numbers for 2020 were taken as a basis, there would be a massive increase in fees. At the same time, the law makes it impossible for operators to operate in a market economy and to attract new customers with lower prices. Transport Minister Leonore Gewessler is obviously just right about the latter point. The review of an amendment to the FEG was initiated on Wednesday.

The Vida union criticizes the shortened review time for such a comprehensive change in the law. This also includes provisions relevant to employees, such as the issuing of medical certificates. On the other hand, there are also many changes in the law that are directly related to data protection.

"This will secure the airport tariffs and prevent a massive drop in charges," explains Federal Minister Leonore Gewessler. “In the future, louder aircraft will have to pay higher fees than quieter ones. This is an important step for effective noise protection ”.

“That strengthens the Austrian airports - that is an important corona support”, states State Secretary Magnus Brunner (ÖVP). “We are taking legal action against this, because otherwise the airport's legally permissible fees would rattle into the basement due to the crisis and the slump in air traffic. This would destroy the economic basis of the airports, which are so important for the connection to Austria, of the transport hubs. The FEG amendment therefore secures income through airport charges at airports. The Vienna hub and the regional airports are very important in Austria. Especially for maintaining the hub in Vienna as a feeder to long-haul connections. "

In addition to the FEG, an amendment to the Aviation Act (LFG) was examined this week. The above all technical adjustments, which are necessary due to new Union law provisions, above all amend aspects of aviation security - from drone applications to aviation obstacles to access to security areas of the airport. "In this way, we also ensure that the construction of solar and photovoltaic systems does not require a permit under the Aviation Act in the future - we are thus strengthening the expansion of renewable energies," emphasizes Gewessler.