State aid Measures and the New Draft Commission Regulation for Regional Airports

In order to make the action of the European Union more efficient regarding State aid to the air transport sector, the EU Commission has recently provided the new Regulation No. 651/2014, concerning the government of State aid. More specifically, the new Regulation provides for certain categories of State aid which are compatible with the internal market, in accordance to articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty. Regarding the specific scope of State aid for airports, the admission is provided under circumstances set out by the Commission in a Communication on Guidelines on State aid to airports and airlines (2014/C 99/03). In accordance to EU Communication on State aid, airports with annual passenger traffic between 3 and 5 million may, under certain specific circumstances, be supported by public interventions. Differently, airports with annual passenger traffic above 5 million are usually profitable and able to cover all of their costs (except very exceptional cases). Concerning operating aid to airports, it is assumed that airports with annual passenger traffic of 1-3 million should not be able to cover the majority of their operating costs, whereas those with more than 3 million passengers are usually profitable and should be able to cover their costs. Therefore, as provided in the Communication, operating aid may be admitted if the airport’s annual traffic should not exceed 3 million passengers. Consequently, the question is whether the current European Guidelines on State Aid to airports and airlines are able to handle aid measures also for regional airports, given that public funding has a key role in the development of regional airports projects.