ECR President Władysław Ortyl has been appointed rapporteur on an upcoming own initiative opinion on "the future of regional airports – challenges and opportunities" during the meeting of the Bureau of the European Committee of the Regions on 7 December 2020.
Mr Ortyl, President of the Podkarpackie region in Poland, will draw up the CoR's opinion on the difficult situation faced by regional airports as a result of COVID-19 and will illustrate the current situation with specific examples from different Member States. In particular, the position paper will focus on the investment needs of regional airports, with particular consideration of safety and security issues as well as economic and environmental standards.
Marshal Ortyl believes that "the potential of regional airports goes just as far as the implementation of the Green Deal especially by creating interconnections with rail and building multimodal hubs" and considers that Member States should be called on to ensure that support for regional airports is included in the national recovery and resilience plans.
The topic of regional airports also ties in with the priorities of the CoR for 2020-2025 as territorial cohesion has been recognised as a core value. Regional airports are a strategic factor for cohesive development in regions and Mr Ortyl expressed that "without strong regional airports, it is impossible to boost tourism and develop the economy of peripheral regions".
The ECR President would like to see a new tailor-made approach for regional airports considering their importance: "local and regional airports play a crucial role in connectivity of many regions, in particular peripheral regions and outermost regions. They contribute to the territorial and social cohesion of the EU".
The opinion could not be more timely - the aviation market has undergone major changes since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and many regional airports have been close to bankruptcy. Industry organisations, such as the International Airport Council, estimate that in 2020, passenger transport will fall by around 60% worldwide compared to last year. The losses at airports could amount to as much as USD 100 billion. The combined impact – direct, indirect and knock-on effects – on regional economies is estimated at 1.4-2.5% of their GDP.
There will be a first exchange of views on Mr Ortyl's opinion on 26 February in the COTER Commission. Adoption in the COTER Commission in April will be followed by adoption in plenary in July. It is the second opinion from an ECR CoR Group President on the topic of regional airports. The first one was prepared in 2004 by Cllr Gordon Keymer CBE FCA, former leader of Tandridge District Council in the UK and former ECR President.