Airport usage fees

[SDQDI]

Simple. Don't charge for landings, charge for take off. Once you taxi off the strip a gate comes down and you can't get back on the strip without swiping your credit card.Car parks have been doing it for years.

If they bring that in I bet the sale of tundras goes through the roof

 

 

[Marty_d]

Going back quite a few years, my local council used to charge you a penny- in- the- slot to use their toilets.There were no questions asked regarding the number of movements, which only proves what a money grabbing society we have become.

I think the top turd at Ryanair floated that idea again recently. Funny how some stinkers just keep popping up...

 

 

[Patrick Normoyle]

I moved to Adelaide some 3 1/2 years ago, in deciding where to live, one of the considerations was what was available for my "Boys Toys", I was lucky that there was Aldinga and Goolwa not too far from our desired suburbs, a few calls on the phone and the sums done, and I MADE A CHOICE, I chose Aldinga primarily as it is really close to home and an awesome airfield, I immediately liked the folks who run the joint and they had all the bells and whistles ( come try their cafe, awesome food and hospitality ). Now the cost is extremely high compared to the occasional carton of light beer I had today for my last hangar. However, I have 24 hour access, paved taxiways, 4 runways, toilets ( paper and soap are free ) power, fuel, phone, cafe, fully maintained and safe environment. The managers put in hours of blood sweat and tears, they do an awesome job, we even have lights on the main black top for use up until 10pm. Now Goolwa is a bit further away and cheaper and has great facilities too, but I made the decision to use the much more convenient Aldinga. I always check what is charged before I plan to use "Someone else's " airfield, weather it's private, council or personal. If there is a charge associated with its use, I have the cash ready and pay in the agreed manner. We have a choice ( in most circumstances ) to go where we want. I'd estimate the Aldinga airfield would cost 2Mil to construct in now day terms ( hangars excluded ), who would invest that kind of dosh and expect no return, and then there is the annual maintenance, council representations, legal cost and the list goes on and on.

 

 

[Patrick Normoyle]

Jakej, I agree, but I think it is difficult to work out a fair system, maybe charge the hangar owners a sq foot rate that they can then pass on to their tenants if they have any, but some will have one aircraft in their hangar, others will have 5, and some cars or boats or what ever. Very hard mix to resolve.

 

 

[dazza 38]

Going back quite a few years, my local council used to charge you a penny- in- the- slot to use their toilets.There were no questions asked regarding the number of movements, which only proves what a money grabbing society we have become.

Reminds me of a saying dad used to say when I was a young fella. "Here I sit broken hearted, paid my penny and only farted."

 

 

[SDQDI]

Good 2 c u agen dazza

 

Lol....

 

Ok, seriously though, it is good to see you commenting again dazza.

 

 

[rankamateur]

Glad your back, you have got a lot of marking to do Dazza, the spelling has got tearable around hear while you have bean away.

 

 

[poteroo]

Any reasonable person should be prepared to pay for facilities they use, or in lieu work to maintain etc. The landing fees thing was always a "Pain" with being billed for places you have never been near in years.. The cost of collection would be as much as the monetary value in disputed cases. Nev

Cost-of-Recovery is something that most airport owners seem to conveniently forget. In our case - consider the CoR for an $11 landing fee. It requires transcription from the aural recording - is then taken to the main office in town-where it is converted to a hard copy on a computer- and then mailed out. (has to cost $25 per invoice). But wait.....there's more. Pilot doesn't pay on 30 days - so airport owner mails out a reminder, (cost probably $15). Old pilot forgets this reminder letter, (complete with little red bowtie on finger!!), and then receives a threatening letter from a cost recovery agency @ $50?? So, old pilot fires up office PC and EFT's the airport owner the original $11......job done! My estimate of recovery cost is now $90 or thereabouts. Are the airport owners clever - or are they not? Can they see the folly of their accounting ways........ no way! It appears they are in complete denial. Now if every owner were to severely extend the line of credit that these ignorant airport owners are in effect offering - there would be some interest in that magic word profitability.

 

I've no problem with user pays. However, there's no logic in these make work/lose money transactions.

 

In many cases airport owners have offered an annual charge for unlimited use. This is very useful if you are using your aircraft 3-4 times weekly. Our airport offers $180 annual charges on private aircraft, which equates out to about $3.50 per week - in my case = $1 per landing! So, I'm not unhappy, and they shouldn't be either - because they're paid on a single, annual invoice. They have up to now baulked at an annual charge for 'commercial' aircraft - but this year have seen reason. It's steep at about $600 pa - but to be fair, that's really 1 training flight per week. @ 2 flights per week and you're way ahead. So are they - because it's a single invoice - which, (given their undisclosed, but probably $20+ cost of raising), is probably good for them too.

 

You may well ask why airport owners seek to extract maximum revenue out of the smallest flying machine. It has much to do with the good old Aussie 'tall poppy syndrome' or better known as the 'green eyed monster disease' (ENVY). One senior staff member of our local airport owner allowed his guard to slip on an occasion when charges were being discussed - ' a bunch of fat cats sucking off the local ratepayers' was his most unwise outburst. He didn't retain his position for long after this - but that's not an uncommon perception amongst the bureaucratic community. Interestingly, this boofhead would not entertain the thought that the CoR was greater than the landing fee. Not an unusual problem with Bachelors of Business Management.

 

I've carefully studied this airports Business Plan, and it's annual budget. With 70,000 RPT passengers annually, they need only 25 cents per head more to recover more than all of the landing fees from GA. This would be all profit. They could easily drop the lower end GA landing fees to zero - thus saving them the CoR which currently exceeds the actual fees. (Many airports have done this - Geraldton is one in WA). If they instituted a charge on aircraft using our ILS for crew training, (practical, because the unit is privately owned) - it would return many thousands more. (the cost of shooting an ILS at Perth is $200,300 ?? - hence Albany is used up). If the airport reached an arrangement with other regular airport users, (RFDS, Firebombers, RAAF), for contributions, then it could really claim equitable charging. All 3 bodies mentioned here are funded by the state or federal government and it would appear only fair that they all contribute. Then we have vehicle parking - a sacred cow if ever we had one! Some airports are finally charging, particularly the FIFO and 1 week in Perth travellers.

 

There are many sources of revenue available to airport owners - all they need is some lateral thinking, and to ensure that which they do collect is not costing them more than it's worth.

 

happy days,

 

 

[Downunder]

LOL....I'm charged 5 to 10 dollars a month for power. Council reads the meter and sends me a bill.

 

No electronic payment available via the invoice. I go in and put it on my credit card just for giggles.......

 

 

[coljones]

LOL....I'm charged 5 to 10 dollars a month for power. Council reads the meter and sends me a bill.No electronic payment available via the invoice. I go in and put it on my credit card just for giggles.......

If you really want to bugger them around you pay in cash, coins or small notes or by cheque. The cost on business of managing cash or cheques far outweighs credit card charges, at least for small amounts.

 

 

[jacmiles]

I always find it funny how people will complain about landing fees, airport maintenance etc. to the point of avoiding airports to save themselves $10 but in the next breath whinge about all the airports closing and there is nowhere to keep an aircraft within easy driving distance etc. etc. Some places may be cheap, some way over the top but I suggest to those who think it is all too expensive, go buy a couple of hundred acres, prepare a few strips, build some toilets and an office, put up fencing, buy the machinery to maintain the place, work seven days a week and listen to all the people whinge about how much you charge and how they are never coming back etc. etc. Maybe go look up the costs for keeping a boat at a marina, or the fees for living on a golf course.

Spoken like somebody who works for the council, Where flying ULTRALIGHTS here mate, not mail planes or people movers, When RAA gives me the go ahead to charge for joy flights then ill be quite happy to pay landing fees. I dont think this will be happening any time soon as they are a bit busy taking pictures for their next monthly magazine with nothing inside it worth reading. Who's going to be president next month?

 

 

[rotax618]

G'day, here at Casino the Council requires the owners of all non commercial aircraft hangared at the field to pay a user (landing) fee of $150/annum. Commercial operators have to pay more, but we don't have any commercial operators at present. Itinerant aircraft are supposed to pay an $8 landing fee via an honesty box, naturally nobody pays although training schools from Coolangatta land here several times every day. The Council also requires all locals prove they have $10mil public liability but they ignore itinerants. Not really fair!