Domestic airports plan to boycott 29 national airlines, including China Eastern, Air China and China Southern, over 4.2 billion yuan (US$615 million) in outstanding fees, according to the China Civil Airports Association.

The Shanghai Airport Authority yesterday refused to comment on the matter.

The association has published a blacklist on its official Website with debtors' names and amounts it claims they owe.

It now plans to complain to the Civil Aviation Administration of China - the country's top airline and airport regulator ?? to impose limitations on serious violators' flying time, according to Ding Xinwei, a senior official of the association.

Airlines must pay airports fees on rights pertaining to takeoffs and landing, parking, passenger boarding, passenger service, security and in other areas, according to official regulations.

An official from Eastern Airlines' publicity department, only identified as Zhang, refused to comment, but said the economic situation was serious.

Huang Bin, secretary of Air China's board of directors, said he was on a business trip, was not fully informed of the issue and thus could not comment.

An official with Southern Airlines, who requested anonymity, said the company had China's biggest fleet. The total amount involved might be huge on paper, but averaged out, the figure was not so large when compared to some smaller companies, the official said.

A 300-ton domestic flight with 400 passengers on board was required to pay airports 25,000 yuan in fees each time it used an airport, Ding said.

The airlines often pay fees three or six months in arrears, according to Ding. "However, if they renege on the fees, we'll take measures to protect our benefits," Ding said.

Airports had lowered charges since March as most domestic airlines suffered losses because of the fallout from the financial crisis, but many companies were still not paying on time, Ding said.

Financial reports of the third quarter of this year showed that Eastern Airlines suffered a loss of 2.38 billion yuan, Air China 1.99 billion yuan and China Southern 884 million yuan.

Air China and China Southern need to pay creditors more than 8 billion yuan, while Eastern Airlines' amount has reached 10.7 billion yuan, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. Fuel charges and take-off and landing fees accounted for a major proportion of these debts, it said.

Some creditors have take measures against airlines. The north China branch of the China National Aviation Fuel Group briefly stopped fueling flights from United Eagle Airlines last year, Xinhua said.

(Shanghai Daily November 14, 2008)