newstodate.aero
Sep 1, 2010 (newstodate): Denmark's Copenhagen Airport will be the first major European airport to offer differentiated charges.
The Danish CAA has now approved the charges scheme for the airport's new LCC terminal, Swift, opening on October 231, 2010.
The airport will offer handling charges to Swift operators 35 percent below the charges level for legacy carriers at the other terminals.
The lower charge reflects that several specific operating requirements must be met by the airlines when using Swift and because of the location and type of construction of the new facility.
In July, Copenhagen Airport recorded more than 400,000 low-cost passengers in a single month for the first time ever, and the low-cost market share was 18.5 percent.
The low-cost carriers year-to-date market share is 17.6 percent, which is about three percent higher than in 2009.
The airport's decision to set up an own terminal dedicated to the handling of low-cost carriers was spurred by the emergence of a private consortium that wants the airport to allocate land in order to set up an own low-cost terminal.
So far, the airport has effectively blocked the entrance of this private initiative by refusing to allocate land, and the Swift terminal is seen by many in the market as a move to protect the airport's own monopoly.
It remains unknown which low-cost carriers will move to Swift, but it is widely expected that Ryanair will make its debut at Copenhagen, moving much of its existing traffic away from other Danish airports.
The opening of Swift may also see the Belgian handling company Aviapartner entering Copenhagen Airport, but so far this has still not been confirmed by the company.
The Danish CAA has now approved the charges scheme for the airport's new LCC terminal, Swift, opening on October 231, 2010.
The airport will offer handling charges to Swift operators 35 percent below the charges level for legacy carriers at the other terminals.
The lower charge reflects that several specific operating requirements must be met by the airlines when using Swift and because of the location and type of construction of the new facility.
In July, Copenhagen Airport recorded more than 400,000 low-cost passengers in a single month for the first time ever, and the low-cost market share was 18.5 percent.
The low-cost carriers year-to-date market share is 17.6 percent, which is about three percent higher than in 2009.
The airport's decision to set up an own terminal dedicated to the handling of low-cost carriers was spurred by the emergence of a private consortium that wants the airport to allocate land in order to set up an own low-cost terminal.
So far, the airport has effectively blocked the entrance of this private initiative by refusing to allocate land, and the Swift terminal is seen by many in the market as a move to protect the airport's own monopoly.
It remains unknown which low-cost carriers will move to Swift, but it is widely expected that Ryanair will make its debut at Copenhagen, moving much of its existing traffic away from other Danish airports.
The opening of Swift may also see the Belgian handling company Aviapartner entering Copenhagen Airport, but so far this has still not been confirmed by the company.