What is the future of regional airports? What are the challenges and opportunities they face? Marshal Władysław Ortyl, as rapporteur in the European Committee of the Regions on the future of regional airports, answered these questions and many others during the recent COTER (Territorial Cohesion Policy) commission meeting held online.
Marshal Ortyl pointed out that the opinion would form the basis of better aviation legislation, but would also provide a solution for recovery from the crisis facing regional airports today: "Each such meeting shows how important and highly anticipated this opinion is. We want to highlight the challenges that have not previously been discussed, but also the institutions that are working to solve these problems," he highlighted.
Drawing attention to the global crisis in the aviation sector, Marshal Ortyl, who also serves as President of the ECR Group, stressed the importance of airports for economic development: "business organisations, such as Eurocontrol, estimate that in 2020, airlines and airports recorded losses of more than EUR 56 billion as a result of the decrease in passenger numbers, which fell by 1.7 billion. In Europe alone, as many as 191 000 people directly involved in the aviation sector have been affected by redundancies."
The Marshal provided the example of Rzeszów-Jasionka airport to show that "regional airports are the main hubs around which key industry brands from all over the world choose to locate themselves. Without an airport, they would arguably not be based in our regions," he emphasized. Rzeszów-Jasionka airport is one of the leading regional airports in Poland, serving up to one million passengers per year. "The development of Jasionka airport has not only attracted business and services, but has also led, over the last decade, to a significant increase in investor interest in the area around the airport itself."
Mr Ortyl also raised the issue of aviation in the European Union's new financial perspective for 2021-2027 highlighting the necessity to provide EU funds, in the context of cohesion policy for 2021-27, to co-finance investments in regional airports that directly support processes relating to decarbonisation and the low-carbon circular economy model. For the Marshal, it is also crucial to allocate adequate European funds to the "development of safety and security infrastructure, and to make use of innovative technologies and digitalisation supporting airports in their contribution to the objectives of the European Green Deal".
A second discussion and adoption of the opinion on The future of regional airports – challenges and opportunities at the COTER meeting is scheduled for the second half of April and adoption in plenary is foreseen for July this year.