Air NZ views airport fee rise as excessive

reprinted from the Dominion (Wellington, NZ)

Air NZ views airport fee rise as excessive

Air New Zealand has slammed Auckland International Airport's decision to increase landing fees and departure tax for passengers as unjustified and excessive.

It has also questioned whether the airport was employing its capital efficiently.

The Board of Airline Representatives, which includes Air New Zealand, is also highly critical of the move. Passenger departure fees rise by $2 to $22 and airline landing charges increase by 19.6 per cent, compounding over the next three years.

At its annual meeting in Auckland yesterday members agreed to seek more advice on the fee rises before deciding future action.

Board executive director Stewart Milne said the airlines had signed confidentiality agreements with the airport, which precluded them from talking about what asset valuations were done to arrive at the new fee figures.

But he said they were not satisfied with what they considered to be the charges against direct airfield assets.

They wanted a more accurate breakdown. The airport revalued its assets by 54 per cent last year.

Mr Milne said the cost of turning around a Boeing 747 was twice as expensive as it was in Australia but there were too many smokescreens put up when members asked why.

The airport's managing director, John Goulter, has justified the increase in fees to cover its $140 million capital expenditure that includes runway refurbishment.

Air New Zealand, the biggest user of the airport, said departure fees were going up when passenger numbers were increasing and airline activity revenue was higher than any Australian airport.

The "excessive and unjustified cost on passengers" went against world trends of lower fees when passenger numbers increased.

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