Leading organisations combine to attack aviation taxes

Three of the leading aviation organisations operating in the Middle East have come together to address major issues related to taxes and charges levied on civil aviation throughout the Arab world.

ACAC (Arab Civil Aviation Commission), AACO (Arab Air Carriers Organisation), and IATA (International Air Transport Association) are working jointly with individual countries in the region to encourage them to adhere to the ICAO Policy on charges and taxes.

In a joint statement by the leadership of all three entities the organisations recognise that:
- Air transport is vital to the economic development and growth of Arab countries;
- The airline industry creates substantial value for its customers, employees and the wider economy;
- Unjustified airport and ANSP charges as well as taxes discourage air traffic and have a detrimental effect on the wider economy;
- The world and the aviation industry are suffering from an unprecedented economic crisis, making it more urgent than ever for all industry stakeholders to maximize cost efficiency and cost reduction.

The three organisations say there is an urgent call for a meaningful consultation process between airlines and providers to ensure that the economic, service quality and capacity needs of both parties are understood and that a balance is struck.

That there is transparency in sharing financial and other information on operations with airlines to assist them in verifying and justifying the costs involved in providing the services.

There should be a cost-relationship between charges and taxes and the cost of services provided, such that all aviation charges and taxes are reinvested into the facilities and services for which they were levied.

They call for an equitable charges structure where no users are burdened with costs not properly allocable to them according to sound accounting principles.
They said that productivity and cost-effectiveness improvements that translate into lower charges to the airlines should be introduced and that the countries should comply with all other principles of ICAO’s Policies on Charges for Airports and Air Navigation Services.