"We risk innovating with marijuana, why not with civil aviation?", Gonzalo Yelpo, ALTA"™s Legal Director, expressed in the Foro DACS in Montevideo, Uruguay.
During the meeting, Gonzalo presented the measures that the government of Uruguay must take to update the national regulations for civil aviation, which has remained the same for 40 years or more. Among them: eliminate visa restrictions, promote competition in services on land, think about opening seventh freedom rights and increase the category of Carrasco Airport.
In his presentation, Gonzalo expressed the position of ALTA in the following topics:
Fuel: Uruguay has one of the highest fuel prices in the region and this does not allow the country to be competitive. In addition, the price formation formula is not transparent. ALTA asked for a transparent and predictable formula for the JetA1 price.
Category of the Airport: ALTA proposed to develop a study on the economic impact of increasing the category of the Carrasco Airport from ILS class I to III, since the current category does not correspond to the level of investments made.
Eliminate barriers: ALTA proposed to work with governments on regional visas to eliminate bureaucracy in minor trips and strengthen bilateral and multilateral relations to generate openness between neighboring countries.
Policies and incentives: it is necessary to review internal policies to attract foreign companies, since the regulatory framework in Uruguay currently demands 400 thousand dollars for foreign companies to settle in the country.
Freedoms: Gonzalo expressed the need to unilaterally grant seventh freedom right to foreign carriers.
Boarding fees: compared to other airports, the international airport passenger fee in Montevideo is substantially higher and will increase progressively in the next 3 years. ALTA presented a best practice: Cartagena, which substantially reduced airport passenger fees and the number of tourists increased by 38 percent, new routes were opened and the seating capacity with new routes improved up to 26 percent.
The objective of this forum was to discuss the challenges that civil aviation faces in Uruguay to be sustainable. ALTA expressed its willingness to work with the different players in the industry to promote the development of aviation in the country.
