Interim Report - Introduction - EASA

INTERIM REPORT – DATA SUMMARY AND ANALYSIS
EASA.2009.OP.21
2.2.1.3 Competition in the de-icing / anti-icing service market
Any increase in competition between local service providers may be viewed as potentially
leading to an increase in quality of service and reduced prices. However, in practice, this
theoretical market-mechanism has little influence on price and quality of de-icing / anti-icing
services.
As shown in Table 2, the number of service providers available per aerodrome, and therefore
the competition – is in most cases extremely limited.
Number of service providers
1 2 3 more than 3
Very Small (less than 0.1 Million PAX) 11 (84.6%) 2 (15.4%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Small (0.1 to 0.5 Million PAX) 39 (92.9%) 3 (7.1%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Medium (0.5 to 1 Million PAX) 24 (100%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Large (More than 1 Million PAX) 26 (74.3%) 9 (25.7%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Very Large (More than 2 Million PAX) 36 (43.9%) 27 (32.9%) 13 (15.9%) 6 (7.3%)
All aerodromes 136 (69.4%) 41 (20.9%) 13 (6.6%) 6 (3.1%)
Table 2: Number of service providers available per aerodrome
At 69.4% of the analysed aerodromes, a single service provider is in a monopoly position.
Except for very large aerodromes (more than 2 Million PAX and therefore within the scope of
Council Directive 96/67/EC), the majority of aerodromes have a single provider, and none
have more than two. Of the remaining 30.6% of aerodromes, there is more than one service
provider.
The main factor limiting the number of service providers at aerodromes appears to be the
lack of profitability of de-icing / anti-icing. The total amount of de-icing / anti-icing operations
at an aerodrome (further dependent on the airport traffic and weather conditions) enables,
only in a few cases, multiple service providers to operate at an aerodrome. Based on the
above figures, it is possible to suppose that – independent of the winter conditions and
further barriers to entry – there is no place for two simultaneous actors at an aerodrome in
Central Europe with less than one million passengers per annum. The investment required
for a projected small (and unpredictable) number de-icing / anti-icing operations is too great.
A more detailed analysis of the results further reveals major national differences in the
competition between service providers. For instance, while more than half of the aerodromes
in the United Kingdom have multiple service providers, almost all German aerodromes have
a monopoly service provider, under the ownership of the aerodrome.
Though Council Directive 96/67/EC may facilitate market access for new entrants, its
interpretation and implementation at national level has led to varying results, and significant
“unwritten” barriers to entry still exist. For example, it would make little business sense for a
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