The Airport Charges Regulations 2011
The Regulations implement European Directive 2009/12/EC on airport charges into UK law. They establish a common
framework by which airports consult their airline customers about airport charges, service level agreements and major
infrastructure projects. The Regulations require airports to:
- consult airlines about airport charges annually
- give at least 4 months notice of proposed changes to airport charges (unless there are exceptional
circumstances)
- provide specific information to airlines on how airport charges are calculated
- (if practicable) announce decisions on changes to airport charges at least 2 months before they come into
effect
- consult airlines on major infrastructure projects
The Regulations also contain provisions about airlines providing information to airports, the basis for airports
providing differentiated services and discrimination. We can investigate complaints that an airport has not complied
with the Regulations.
The full text of the Regulations is available
on-line
Guidance on the application of our powers under the Regulations
We have issued guidance on how we will interpret, monitor and enforce the obligations on airports and users in the
Regulations.
Links to our guidance and the consultation we held on it are below.
Responses to the consultation (Birmingham Airport, Bristol Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Gatwick Airport, Heathrow
Airport, Manchester Airport Group, Virgin, IATA/KLM, James Chan (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association):
Airports covered by the Regulations
The Regulations apply to airports with more than 5 million passengers in the year two years prior to the current year. Airports with more than 5 million passengers in 2019 are, therefore, covered by the Regulations in 2021, while airports with more than 5 million passengers in 2020 will be covered by the Regulations in 2022. A list of these airports is below.
| 2021 |
2022 |
| Heathrow |
Heathrow |
| Gatwick |
Gatwick |
| Manchester |
Manchester |
| Stansted |
Stansted |
| Luton |
Luton |
| Edinburgh |
|
| Birmingham |
|
| Glasgow |
|
| Bristol |
|
| Belfast International |
|
| Newcastle |
|
| London City |
|
Liverpool
|
|
Related publications
In December 2016, the European Commission published two papers produced by a working group of the Thessaloniki Forum of airport charges regulators:
In December 2017, the Commission published two papers produced by the Thessaloniki Forum on market power assessments:
Recent airport conduct decisions
Until 1 April 2014 we had powers to investigate airport conduct under section 41 of the Airports Act 1986. The
decisions of our recent cases (both about alleged discrimination) are shown below: