The Federal Office of Civil Aviation sees Violation of Cost Covering Principle in current Regulatory Period
The regulator FOCA has issued a decree pursuant to Article 11 clause 2 of the Ordinance on Airport Charges (OAC) to reduce the airport charges during the current period due to alleged violation of the cost covering principle. The decree plans to reduce flight operations charges (except for emission and noise charges) by 15% as of April 1, 2020 and would thus lower the charges in advance of completion of the already initiated proceedings for adjusting flight operations charges. As a result of the decree, Flughafen Zürich AG's revenue from flight operations charges would be reduced by around CHF 60 million in fiscal year 2020 in comparison to 2019.
Flughafen Zürich AG considers the cost covering principle as not being violated in the current regulatory period and will appeal the decree.