(95) According to Romania, the business model of Carpatair, namely the hub and spoke model, led to a situation where, during the peak times of Carpatair passenger arrivals, the airport capacities were almost completely exhausted. On the other hand, during the off-peak time, the capacity was under-used. Therefore, the incremental costs of increasing passenger output at Timișoara International Airport, at least at off-peak times created by Carpatair’s operating model, was very low due to most costs being fixed. Consequently, even low aeronautic charges were estimated to be incrementally profitable. This is demonstrated by the 39 % increase in operating revenues observed by the Airport Manager over the period 2008-2010, which was achieved with only a 22 % increase in operating costs.

(96) According to Romania, the rebates and discounts included in the 2007 AIP and 2008 AIP reflect economies of scale for the Airport Manager resulting from the high fixed cost nature of airport operation. It means that there is a strong incentive to pursue incremental volumes. The rebates and discounts are designed to incentivise and increase economic activity which makes the most efficient use of the airport infrastructure.

(97) According to Romania, the Airport Manager acted on its own when determining the charges and reductions published in the 2010 AIP. Romania stated that the charges and reductions are not attributable to the State.

(98) Romania submitted that the 2010 AIP was adopted in compliance with the MEOP. According to Romania, non-aviation revenues, the outsourcing of the network and an increase of the value of the company should be taken into account when analysing compliance with the MEOP. About 14 % of the Airport Manager’s revenues were non-aeronautical revenues. According to Romania, passengers of low-cost airlines are usually more prone to buy newspapers, food, drinks or similar at an airport’s shops than other passengers as low-cost airlines usually do not provide these items on board.

(99) Romania believed the 2010 AIP provided an incentive to airlines to attract more passengers. Romania stated that throughout the application of the 2010 AIP, the traffic at the Airport had developed positively (see Table 10).

Table 10: Timișoara airport – Revenue and Passenger numbers