The Cheddi Jagan International Airport Corporation (CJIAC) on Saturday lashed out at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) saying the organisation stymied a smooth process for the collection of new airport fees and accused it of overreaching its authority.
The new fees were made public by Caribbean Airlines, which two weeks ago, advised travellers that the CJIA had increased its airport security fee and introduced a passenger service charge, effective from April 1st. In a press release, the airline said the CJIA had advised all airlines that the fees are to support the improvements at the airport. As a result, the cost to travellers for a return (round) trip is US$35 (GY$7,315), while for departing passengers it is US$17, and for one-way departing passengers it is US$15, payable in Guyana dollars at the prevailing foreign exchange rate.
In addition to an outpouring of complaints from the public about the charges, the then Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin told Stabroek News that he was shocked at the arbitrary way the increase was implemented while stressing that it will have a negative impact on the local tourism sector. Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority Brian Mullis also labelled the newly implemented fees excessive and called on the government and the CJIA’s management to reexamine them. The CJIAC statement on Saturday did not refer to these two statements.
The IATA had also expressed concern over the implementation of the new fees and called for immediate dialogue with the management of the airport and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. The organisation had pointed out that it has worldwide standards in place enabling airlines to collect government-imposed fees, service charges and taxes as part of an airline ticket. These are then transferred to the respective governments. It noted that this has provided a smoother travel experience for passengers by eliminating the former practice whereby many governments manually collected some of these fees and taxes at airports.
In a statement, IATA quoted Peter Cerda, it’s Regional Vice President for the Americas as saying, “It is completely unacceptable that passengers are being inconvenienced in such a manner. This is a direct result of the airport’s management refusal to engage with IATA on a process which is standard practice across the globe. As a consequence, our member airlines have unfortunately no choice other than to manually collect the additional fees and charges.”
IATA asked for clarity from the airport operator on how the fees and charges have been calculated, while charging that international standards set out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) Document 9082 were not followed.
Stabroek News had made several efforts to get a response from the CJIAC on the new fees but was unsuccessful and on Saturday, it finally issued a statement.
According to the statement, the CJIAC made every effort to have the aircraft operators collect these fees as recommended by ICAO. “Unfortunately, IATA through its actions, thwarted every effort to make this process work for the benefit of all parties,” it charged.
The CJIAC said it finds the statement made by IATA, “very unfortunate” and not reflective of the required engagements between the airport corporation and its stakeholders. It emphasised that it has no arrangement or agreement with IATA but rather, with the airlines. “Further, there is no contractual arrangement or requirement between the airlines and CJIAC which requires CJIAC to engage with IATA,” the statement said. It added that despite not having any legal obligation to engage IATA, the CJIAC responded to many queries raised by IATA and even met with its representatives in Canada.
The CJIAC recalled that over the last few years, it has been meeting with stakeholders on a weekly basis and collectively discussing and agreeing on all aspects of the modernisation works at the airport. The short and medium term plans for the airport including the substantial capital outlay for 2019/2020 were also discussed.
Preference
“Commencing as early as October 2018, the CJIAC met with the airlines and held discussions on proposed fee increases. The preference indicated by most of the airlines was to have these fees included in the ticket price,” the statement said.
It noted that not all airlines plying the Guyana route are IATA members and for those, there is no need for IATA to make arrangements regarding the inclusion of the fee in their tickets. The non-IATA members make their own arrangements that have airport fees collected and paid over to the CJIAC. Although there may be some inconvenience during transition to the fees this is usually resolved in a relatively short period of time, the statement said.
It further pointed out that on the 25th January 2019, the CJIAC wrote the airlines in keeping with the provisions of the terms and conditions of the Air Carrier Agreements between the airport and them, informing of proposed fee increases effective from the 1st April, 2019.
The airport also provided explanations for the fee increases, according to the statement, which added that the CJIAC had budgeted $2 billion in Capital Works for 2019/2020 to improve the services offered to the passengers and its airport stakeholders. The larger terminal with Passenger Boarding Bridges have seen a significant increase in operational cost inclusive of power consumption, it pointed out.
“The notification satisfied the agreed terms and conditions set out in the respective Air Carrier Agreements. No objection was raised by any airline,” the statement said.
It noted that after the January 25th letter, CJIAC received correspondence from the IATA on January 29th, which said that members had complained about the fee increase. The IATA requested that the CJIAC shares the presentation it made to the Board or the line Ministry for the increase of fees so that they could better understand the reason.
After further communication, CJIAC and IATA representatives met on 13th February in Canada, the statement said. Subsequently, IATA again requested information regarding the fees increase and recommended that the effective date of the increase be postponed to allow a selling date at least three months prior to travel dates, the statement said.
The CJIAC pointed out that no ICAO policy document can override the national laws governing CJIAC nor the express provisions of the Air Carrier Agreements between it and the respective airlines.
“The Air Carrier Agreements expressly provide for the airport to impose fees and for the airline to pay, on demand… In the case of Caribbean Airlines, the airport is required by the agreement to give them two months’ notice of any new fee or fee increase,” the statement said.
Notably
“This is not the first time that there have been increases in airport fees and charges. On the last occasion in 2017, IATA was able to implement the new fees in as little as 6-8 weeks. Notably, there was no demand from the airport to provide its internal documents. The letters and correspondence informing the airlines were sufficient for IATA to act on in the case of airport fees, whilst a copy of the legislation was requested in respect of the increased government taxes,” the CJIAC said.
It added that on that occasion too, there was a transition period during which passengers were required to pay fees and taxes at the airport.
The CJIAC said that it “does not know what agenda IATA is adopting, but it is inconsistent with the laws of Guyana, the Air Carrier Agreements and ICAO recommendations in cases where there are valid Air Carrier Agreements.”
It charged that it appears that IATA intends to interfere with the contractual relations between CJIAC and its customer airlines including those which are not IATA members.
It further observed that three months have passed since the notification of January 25th. “The Airport is firmly of the view that had IATA acted with the alacrity and competence it usually displays, the fee codes could have been fully implemented by the 1st April, 2019. The Airport’s past experiences with IATA corroborate this belief,” the statement said.
“IATA in seeking to have CJIAC justify the increases to them have sought to exercise a regulatory function it does not have. In so doing IATA has overreached its authority,” the CJIAC charged, adding that it is clear from the position taken by IATA that they are unaware of laws and agreements by which the airport is bound.
“Further, ICAO Policy Document 9082 recommends that airports recover costs associated with the provision of services and maintenance of airport facilities. The Airport Corporation made every effort to have the aircraft operators collect these fees as recommended by ICAO; unfortunately, IATA through its actions, thwarted every effort to make this process work for the benefit of all parties,” the CJIAC charged.
The statement added that as far as the CJIAC is aware, Caribbean Airlines is the only IATA member that is presently collecting the new fees from the travelling public and the other airlines seem to have taken a different approach.
The CJIAC apologised to the travelling public for the inconvenience being caused. “It should be temporary. The ball is in IATA’s court,” it said.
