Landing charges at Tauranga Airport could be increased to account for inflation and costs to upgrade the terminal.
The disclosure that the airport was talking to Air New Zealand about raising charges was made during yesterday's decision-making session on the council's 2016-17 Annual Plan.
It followed an unsuccessful bid byCouncillor Rick Curach to have runway charges set at the market rate. Mayor Stuart Crosby said Mr Curach's move was an ad-hoc approach to a process that was already under way and would come to the council soon.
Tauranga Airport manager Ray Dumble said the new landing charges were likely to go to the Minister of Transport next month. He said the gap between the top and the bottom of airport landing charges was huge and the proposed changes would bring Tauranga up.
The meeting agreed to include $4.5 million of terminal precinct extensions and improvements into the Annual Plan.
