(Corrects paragraphs six, seven and eight to show that AirportsCouncil made their comments prior to the draft Commissionproposal)
By Julia Fioretti and Victoria Bryan
BRUSSELS/BERLIN, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The new EuropeanCommission may scrap plans to open up airport ground handlingservices to more competition amid criticism from airports, whichsay such a move could hit the quality of services.
The reform would give airlines more choice of serviceproviders and increase the minimum number of providers at largeairports.
But the Commission said in a draft document seen by Reutersthat it was unlikely to get wide agreement on the scheme.
Ground handling includes services such as marshallingaircraft, loading and unloading planes, baggage handling, andrefuelling. The biggest providers worldwide includeSwissport/Servisair, DNATA, SATS, Menzies and Fraport.
Currently, European airports with more than 15 millionpassengers a year should allow at least two core ground handlingproviders, and the Commission had wanted to increase that numberto three.
However, the Airports Council International Europe (ACI),which represents 450 airports in 45 European countries, haspreviously argued that increasing the number of ground handlingproviders at airports could make operations more complicated.
It has said more ground handlers would mean more spaceneeded for equipment and would make it more difficult tocoordinate services in events such as extreme weather.
ACI, and German airports association ADV, have said furtherliberalisation and competition for tenders would also putpressure on already low wages in the sector because staff costsmake up around 70 percent of the costs of service providers.
A spokeswoman for the Commission said its work programme hadnot yet been adopted and was still under discussion. (Editing by Mark Potter)