August 2, 2010 - The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has announced the termination of the six month freeze in the Terminal Navigation Charge billed to airlines for take-off and landing services at Cork, Dublin, and Shannon Airports. The new charge of €3.36 per ton will apply to all flights with a retroactive date of July 1^st. 

Due to the difficult economic climate in which the airline industry is currently operating, the charge, which was approved by the Commission for Aviation Regulation last January, was frozen by the IAA until June 30, 2010 at the 2009 charge of €2.53 per ton.  

The IAA generates its revenue from the aviation industry, in particular from airlines, and does not receive any Government funding. As a self-financing organization, the IAA has an obligation to recover its costs from the airlines.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) is a commercial State-sponsored company that provides terminal air navigation services, the costs of which are charged to airlines using the airports at Cork, Dublin and Shannon. The Authority is self funding and receives no financing from the exchequer. 

The Commission for Aviation Regulation, in accordance with Section 7 of the 2001 Aviation Regulation Act, is required to make determinations governing the maximum charge that can be levied by the Irish Aviation Authority at Cork, Dublin and Shannon airports for the provision of terminal navigation services. The increase announced last January was due to two main factors, which are part of the Commissions pricing formula. 

The price cap formula provides for an equal sharing of the volume risk between the Authority and the industry. Thus, when traffic falls, the impact of falling traffic is shared equally by the Authority and the industry. Similarly, were traffic to increase, the gain would be shared between the Authority and the industry. This has an impact on the 2009 rate of €2.53 per ton which was €0.21 (21 cent) per ton too low due to the fall in traffic in 2009. Similarly, the estimated traffic fall in 2010 has a volume sharing impact estimated at €0.22 (22 cent) per ton. 

The price cap also reflects the completion and bringing into operation of the new visual air traffic control tower at Cork on 20th October 2009.  The impact of the new tower at Cork is €0.40 (40 cent) per ton. 

The IAA generates about 90% of its revenue from air navigation services provided to airlines in over 451,000 square kilometers of Irish-controlled airspace. Up to 90% of all flights from Europe to North America fly through Irish-controlled airspace. The IAA generates 10% of its revenues from the regulation and monitoring of safety standards of civil aviation in Ireland.