Mr.
Piotr Samson
President of the Civil Aviation Authority
Dear Mr. President,
With reference to the consultation meeting, you organised regarding the revised “Air Navigation Services Performance Plan for 2020-2024”, held online on 31/08/2021, I present below the final position of Gdańsk Airport on this matter.
I oppose any increase in airline fees (terminal fees and en-route costs) proposed in this document. These increases will affect the passengers in the form of an increased airline ticket cost, and passengers are the least to blame for the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was with great sadness that I witnessed the consultations with the airline industry regarding ATC fee increases. The meeting lasted a few hours and was organised in such a manner that presentations and speeches by representatives of PANSA and CAA took up more than 99% of the time. Representatives of the industry had very little time to present their positions.
I was under the impression that the decision to increase the fees was made a long time ago, and the consultations were a thing of fiction. Add to this the gleeful faces of PANSA representatives and, in my opinion, we get the true picture of the consultation process we have witnessed.
Unfortunately, we, i.e. the airline industry, currently have no reason to smile. Airlines, airports, and tour operators are fighting for survival every day. Mr. President, the financial data of our companies is delivered to you, to the Civil Aviation Authority, and you see our multi-million losses.
Increasing any airline industry user fees nowadays is a bad decision and I hope that you share my opinion on this, Mr. President. This decision will result in an increase in ticket prices for passengers which, in turn, will result in a decrease in demand for airline services and a weakening of the Polish aviation market in favour of neighbouring countries. Weakening the Polish market when the construction of the Solidarity Transport Hub Poland is in progress is an even more bizarre move.
Transferring the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic onto aviation industry entities (including Polish airlines, Polish airports, Polish tour operators, and other enterprises) who have been massacred in economic terms for the past year and a half is, to my mind, a disastrous idea. It may result in carriers withdrawing from certain Polish airports or in limiting the network of flight connections from Polish airports. In my opinion, in practical terms this means destroying the Polish aviation market which we have spent years developing.
Minister Marcin Horała has repeatedly said that companies affected by the COVID-19 pandemic should receive aid from their owners. I agree with the Minister 100%. That is why PANSA should be helped by its owner, i.e. the Polish government. Airports, airlines, tour operators and passengers are not the owners of PANSA. I appeal to you, Mr. President, when you will be making this decision, please listen to what the Minister responsible for air transport in Poland has to say.
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that with this decision you will assume personal responsibility for what will happen on the Polish aviation market. I do not wish to be the prophet of doom, but the President of the Polish Civil Aviation Authority who caused the plunge of the Polish aviation market, including Polish companies - this is a dream which cannot come true.
In view of the above substantive arguments and those presented earlier (in the course of proceedings), I request, Mr. President, that you:
1. do not agree to revise the „Air Navigation Services Performance Plan for 2020-2024”, resulting in increased fees for airlines;
2. obtain direct governmental aid for PANSA (similar to other European countries), as, in my opinion, such assistance is indispensable for this institution;
3. support PANSA in its efforts to obtain such direct financial aid from the Polish government;
4. clarify to the Ministers that direct government aid for PANSA would not constitute illegal state aid;
5. make it clear to the relevant decision-makers that giving PANSA permission to take up a bank loan which we are now all supposed to repay (i.e. passengers, airlines, airports, etc.) does not constitute government aid at all.
Dear Mr. President, it is not too late to change a bad decision into a good and forward-looking one which will allow us to rebuild the Polish aviation market after the COVID-19 pandemic and ensure that passengers will keep streaming in, also for new aviation investments carried out by the Polish government, including the Solidarity Transport Hub Poland in particular.
Mr. President, I truly hope that my voice will be heard, and you will make a wise decision for the good of the Polish aviation market. Respectfully yours,
Attn:
Andrzej Adamczyk - Minister of Infrastructure
Marcin Horała - Secretary of State, Government Plenipotentiary for Solidarity Transport Hub of the Republic of Poland