IATA urges regulation after privatization of Hong Kong airport

IATA urges regulation after privatization of Hong Kong airport    Giovanni Bisignani, director general and chief executive officer of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) called upon Hong Kong authorities to oversee a “correct” privatization of the Hong Kong International Airport Authority and to eliminate “inefficient” use of airspace in the Pearl River Delta.
   “Quite frankly, I do not care who owns the airport. It is the cost and the service levels that matter,” Bisignani said, speaking at the Aerospace Forum Asia held today in Hong Kong.
   He said any rises in charges at the airport could lead to business leaving for neighboring airports.
   “Don’t jeopardize this with short-sighted profiteering for an IPO. A strong independent regulator is needed to ensure that the airport monopoly does not have a license to print money at the expense of the community that built it,” he added.
   According to IATA, inefficient airspace management in the Pear River Delta region is costing the airline industry more than $400 million each year.