Airports Council International (ACI) Europe has called for an increase of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) budget to be dedicated to transport, with a particular focus on airports and the broader air transport sector.
Olivier Jankovec, ACI Europe’s Director General, said: “Greater EU financing is a prerequisite for the sector’s ability to decarbonise by 2050. There is no escaping that transport modes incurring harder-to-abate emissions, such as aviation do require more policy and financial support commensurate to the challenge they face.”
A study by the consultancies SEO Amsterdam Economics (SEO) and the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) has found that fully decarbonising air transport by 2050 will require funding in excess of €820 billion.
ACI Europe highlighted that the investment needs of airports should be considered as a matter of priority given they did not benefit from the same level of support during the global pandemic as other stakeholders but many had to remain operational with high fixed costs. As a result air transport hubs across the continent had no choice, but to accumulate debt, which still remains close to €40 billion higher than pre-pandemic levels. This has led to a significant reduction in capital expenditure – with airports investments reduced by €27 billion compared to plans over 2022-2024. With financing needs estimated at €360 billion by 2040, Europe now faces a looming airport investment crunch.
