eu

A report by the European Court of Auditors has found that approximately €255m of funds granted by the European Union has been used for the unnecessary expansion of airports across Estonia, Greece, Italy, Poland and Spain.

The report also stated that around 20 such airports have misspent large sums of the EU taxpayers’ money over the last decade.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Data Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

The EU Observer reported that vanity projects in small regional airports, shoddy oversight by the European Commission, no local quality control checks and over-optimistic passenger number forecasts were among the list of problems that helped the overspending.

"The court found that the additional passengers were likely to be, on average, 36% less than had been forecast at the time of deciding on the investments."

Out of all the airports that used the funds, only four are in profit while all the other airports ran into losses.

According to the auditors, roughly €129m of the EU money was spent on entirely useless airport projects.

Most of the funds had been used for building terminals and runaways in airports to make them more attractive for new passengers.

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

Eight airports in Spain, five in Italy, three in Greece and two each in Estonia and Poland were targeted by the auditors.

These airports collectively received close to €666m from the European regional development fund and the cohesion fund between 2000 and 2013.

The lead auditor of the report Luc T’Joen was quoted by the EU Observer as saying: "The Court found that the additional passengers were likely to be, on average, 36% less than had been forecast at the time of deciding on the investments."

The report also stated that very few new passengers have turned up at the airports following the expansion.

Image: An oversized apron at La Palma Airport in the Canary Islands. Photo: courtesy of European Court of Auditors.