Delivering his annual Budget UK chancellor George Osborn has confirmed Air Passenger Duty will rise later this year. Airport Operators Association chief executive Darren Caplan said: "I am dismayed that the chancellor has gone ahead with this double inflation increase."

Source: Breaking Travel News              

Barcelona El Prat Airport will be connected via a metro line with Catalonia's capital city centre by 2014, according to the Catalan Government. Barcelona Airport will be served by the newly built L9, which once finished will be the longest metro line in Europe with some 48 kilometres. 

Source: Catalan News Agency             

Zürich Airport posted a +23.4% surge in net profit to CHF170.9 million (US$188 million) for 2011, despite the impact of a challenging economic climate and the strong Swiss Franc.

Source: The Moodie Report              

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said that the U.K. needs to find a solution to the lack of airport capacity in the southeast of the country to maintain its links with emerging economies. "We cannot cut ourselves off from the fastest growing cities in the world," Osborne said.

Source: Bloomberg             

The EU's Council of transport ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday 22 March under the Danish Presidency. From the European Commission, Vice-President Siim Kallas, responsible for transport and mobility, will present agenda items on the EU guidelines for the development of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) and groundhandling services at EU airports.

Source: AvioNews              

The logistics unit of German flagship airline Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA.XE) expects its operating profit to be dragged down this year, as it contends with high fuel costs, the European Union's carbon tax and the possibility of a permanent ban on night flights at Frankfurt airport. "There is a real danger of Frankfurt losing its position as the best and most attractive air freight hub in Europe," said CEO Karl Ulrich Garnadt.

Source: Wall Street Journal