The European Commission has denied claims by the European airports association, ACI Europe, that it has urged airports to raise charges to their airline customers to compensate for the loss of duty free sales from next year.

A spokeswoman for EU Commissioner Mr Mario Monti said that a working document released on Thursday set out the instruments and EU funds that could be used to help airlines, airports or workers that suffer from a loss of income following the abolition of duty free. It also explained how national state aids could be used for this purpose, she said. However, ACI Europe, which represents the interests of 396 airports in 48 European countries, claims that the Commission has recommended that airports raise charges by saying that where duty free revenues have been used to keep airport charges low, airports could raise their charges.

"The abolition will force Europe's airports, most of which have predominantly intra-EU traffic, to make significant increases in their charges at a time when they have been concentrating on reducing charges to airlines," the association said.

A spokesman for Aer Rianta, which has been caught up in a public wrangle with Ryanair over its charges, said the airport authority had decided not to raise charges as a result of the loss of duty free sales.