Cancellation of airport tax hike favors business travel
Gebta España welcomes the cancellation by the Government of the second increase in airport charges for 2015 and recognizes the positive effects of its non-application. The measure, widely demanded by various organizations, will mean the withdrawal of the 4.5% increase initially planned for next year, in addition to the extension of the bonuses currently in force.
Although it is true that the correction by AENA will generate a loss of direct income from the increase in fees “withdrawn”, which from Fomento is estimated at 151 million euros (77 million corresponding to the freezing of rates and 74 to the extension of bonuses), the positive impact of the measure is much greater and more than compensates.
According to Gebta España, the decision of Fomento “ goes in the right direction and is also consistent with the policy that has already been applied to rail transport or ports, to which rates were lowered with the aim of improving their competitiveness”.
The association of agencies specializing in business travel is & ntilde;ala, however, that & nbsp;“cabría expect that the Administration was able to maintain this type of policies, aimed at promoting business activity. And is that any decision affecting the final costs that companies will have to absorb, should consider and calculate the impact it generates in the export sector and by extension in our economy.
EXPORTER PARACAÍDAS
In just five years exports have increased GDP by 10 points, and already represent a third of its value in Spain, whose parachute effect has softened the effects of the drop in domestic demand, and has allowed jobs to be maintained that otherwise might have disappeared.
The traveling dynamics of large companies and the diversification of markets have been joined in recent years by SMEs, in a very significant way. It is a trend pointed out in a study by Gebta and Vueling in 2013 called the socialization of business travel and that ICEX data confirm with the increase of up to 150,000 companies in the export base (more than 10% in the last year).
In addition, different studies show that companies that go abroad create more stable and better qualified employment, with 6.5 million jobs linked to the production of goods and services destined for export.
ALERTS AND ALARMS
Gebta recalls that a clear indicator of the effect of the fees has been the reduction of operations and frequencies by several airlines in the Spanish market, which added to the negative evolution of Madrid-Barajas airport, set off all the alarms.It should not be forgotten that in general the airlines have tended to absorb part of the extra cost of the increase in fees, due to the pressure of the market and competition on many of the routes.
All this has made it possible to dilute and reduce the effects of the price increase mainly in the long haul, but to a much lesser extent in the medium and short haul, because the average price is more economical and the relative weight of the fee is much greater.
Without prejudice to all this, “it is convenient to remember that when we talk about taxes linked to transport, we tend to think that their effects are limited to the companies (añías) or to the tourist traffic, and we tend to forget that a very significant part of the trips are made by companies”.
Already in 2012, Gebta warned of the risks of the increase in airport taxes due to the impact they would have on companies' ability to spend on travel, as they represent an additional cost of close to 1% of the total annual investment in business travel made by Spanish companies.
At that time, the assumption was made that if it was considered that the increases applied since mid-2012 represent an increase of between 0.42 and 18.24 euros per segment, we are talking about more than 700 euros per year of additional cost for a single traveler type, which performs 20 flights MAD / BCN a year.
CESANT PROFIT
Any increase in the amount companies spend on travel can affect the intensity of the trips they make, because their budgets are not elastic,
añade Gebta.
If the unit cost of travel for companies increases, it is clear that they may go out less than planned, and this lower travel intensity of companies logically translates into a drop in export volume.
The association estimates that in just one year, more than 2.5 billion annual foreign trade revenues would have been lost in Spain, due to the effect of the increase in airport taxes.Business travel is a key lever for the commercial activity of companies and, therefore, for exports. The increase in the cost of air travel has an impact on the mobility of business travelers both in Spain and internationally.