New passenger fees for Tauranga airport

A new charge on airline passengers entering the terminal at Tauranga Airport looks set to be introduced next year.

A new charge on airline passengers entering the terminal at Tauranga Airport looks set to be introduced next year.

Tauranga City Council this week agreed to a new passenger aircraft fees regime comprising a mix of aircraft weight-based charges plus a new terminal charge for incoming passengers - starting at $1.52 per person.

The fees would be tested by a public consultation process this month before the newly-elected council made a final decision.

A report to Tuesday's meeting detailed a "base terminal charge" of $1.52 per incoming passenger would be payable from January 1 next year. An additional "terminal development charge" of $1.95 per passenger would be levied once the planned $4.5 million extension of the terminal was completed in 2018.

Passenger operators like Air New Zealand would be levied a "base airfield" landing charge" of $6.90 per tonne of maximum certified take-off weight for aircraft that exceeded three tonnes.

Air New Zealand has agreed to add the passenger terminal fee onto its ticket price and would then reimburse the council's airport operation.

The current set of charges would apply to non-regular passenger aircraft from January 1. The set of fees agreed by the council also covered airport carpark charges.

Councillors were told that Tauranga Airport charges were among the lowest of New Zealand's regional airports.

The first public indication that landing charges would increase was disclosed at a council meeting in May this year.