Madam, - In recent correspondence undue emphasis has been placed on the impact of the EU ruling on publicly owned airports compared with privately owned airports.
The issue is not whether airports are publicly or privately owned, as in some cases it is not the airport itself which provides the incentives and subsidies to the airlines.
Also, incentives that do not breach state aid rules can be provided by publicly owned airports to airlines.
As long as public money is being used as an enticement for a carrier to fly to a certain region, EU state aid rules must be adhered to, and the ownership structure of the airport concerned is of little or no relevance to the argument.
In these cases therefore, the fact that the airport is publicly or privately owned makes no difference, and to claim that publicly owned airports are disadvantaged is a somewhat spurious argument. - Yours etc.,
JOHN HUME,
Director of Policy, Airports Council International, Brussels, Belgium.