easyJet considers court action over Spanish airport handling fees
04.07.05
easyJet is considering court action against Spanish state-run company AENA, which runs Spain's airports. The budget airline says that it is suffering what it calls the 'indefensible' discrimination, which doubles its running costs on fights to Spain.
AENA, which owners and operates Spain's 45 airports, will not allow easyJet to set up its own handling company in Spain. easyJet claims that, because of this, its handling costs for its flights to Spanish airports are three times those charged in Britain.
Ed Winter, easyJet's chief operating officer, said the handling costs make Spain the most expensive place in Europe for airlines to use, adding that they are 'twice that of any other country.' The company is forced to pay AENA €39m (£26m) a year for handing passengers on its no-frills flights. If easyJet had self-handling licences, which would allow it to run its own handling company, these costs would fall by almost in half, to around €20m, Winter claimed.
AENA refused easyJet's recent application for handling licences for all but two Spanish airports - Asturias and Bilbao. easyJet has complained to Spain's Economy Ministry under the country's competition laws If this proves unsuccessful, it will take legal action against AENA in Spain, the airline said.
A spokesman for easyJet, said: 'It is absolutely indefensible. There is no reason why we can't set up our own handling services there. Discrimination like this was stopped in all other European countries years ago, but Spain is the only exception.'
This is the latest twist in a long-running dispute between AENA and easyJet, which has been complaining about high costs of using the Spanish airports for the past two years. easyJet says that although labour costs are lower in Spain than in many other European countries, handling costs in airports are high. Domestic airlines, including Iberia, Spain's biggest airline, use their own handling services, so their costs are much less.
Twenty five percent of easyJet's business is in Spain, its most popular destination, with the airline operating flights to 12 Spanish destinations. easyJet is interested in opening an operating base in Spain, with Barcelona, Madrid or Malaga being its preferred destinations. easyJet flew 1.6 million people from Britain to Barcelona last year, and it would be the natural choice, as the airline is to start new routes from Barcelona to Dortmund in Germany and to Glasgow. There are also plans to start domestic flights within Spain.
But its expansion plans in Spain have been thwarted by the prohibitive costs of flying to the country. Until it can cuts flying costs, it is reluctant to set up an operational base in Spain. A spokeswoman for AENA said the company did not want to make a comment on the case until it had been resolved by the Economy Ministry.
