The price of flying from many regional airports is rising as passengers pay for facilities that used to be free, reports Alex McWhirter.
Several new charges have recently been introduced or proposed by regional airports, ranging from Luton’s suggested £1 passenger drop-off fee to Blackpool’s £10 development charge for every passenger aged over 16. Not surprisingly, this isn’t proving popular with travellers. A poll on our website found that 88 per cent of respondents were opposed to the £1 fee. The airlines who operate from these airports aren’t happy either – they claim the charges are a cash-raising exercise that can only add to the complexity of air travel and could drive passengers away.
So why are the airports doing it? According to Tim Jeans, managing director of Monarch Airlines, a major user of regional airports, “the problem is that a number of these airports are seeing double-digit declines in traffic, yet their budgets are based on passenger growth”.
Figures for March from the Airport Operators Association (AOA) suggest a 15 per cent decline in passenger numbers across most UK airports. Some were even more badly affected, with Stansted down by 16 per cent, Teesside by 50 per cent and Blackpool by 70 per cent. But if the airports are suffering from a cash shortfall, why can’t they recoup their losses by charging the airlines more in landing fees?
The answer isn’t that simple, as it’s all to do with the business model of regional airports and the carriers that use them. Robert Siddall, chief executive of the AOA, says: “The budget airline model means keeping a lid on prices. Some airports have contracts with airlines where they have a fixed-price deal [on landing charges] so they can’t raise rates. Where there is no such contract, an airline may have secured a low-price deal. But when the airport wants to raise prices [to recoup lost revenue from lower passenger numbers] that airline will say, ‘forget it’. It will refuse to pay more in the current climate and will threaten to withdraw its flights.”
The AUC (Air Transport Users Council), a UK consumer watchdog, says it is keeping an eye on developments. “We would be concerned if airports were using these charges as a quick way of making a profit,” a spokesperson says.
For their part, the airlines argue that they must keep fares as low as possible to woo passengers. They maintain that airports levying extra fees risk driving passengers to those airports that do not impose them. Worse still, passengers might feel so fed up with paying these extras that they will take the train or drive.
Jeans of Monarch Airlines says: “Our argument is that airports are returning a 20-30 per cent return on capital, whereas airline earnings are in single digits. In other words, airports can weather the downturn better than the airlines. As soon as Newquay announced a development fee [which is built into the ticket price as part of the taxes] I pulled Monarch out. We won’t go to any airport that charges a development fee and that applies to Blackpool [an airport served by Monarch in the past], which has been talking to us about resuming services.”
Ryanair also recently pulled its flights to Dublin and Barcelona Girona from Blackpool. Michael Cawley, the carrier’s deputy CEO, says: “The decision to introduce an airport development fee is an extremely regressive step.”
So what do the airports say? Susan Kendrick, customer relations manager at Blackpool, says: “The airport is making a substantial loss and the fee has been introduced so we can become a sustainable business in Blackpool.” She adds that the fee enables the airport to provide marketing initiatives such as free car parking for up to 15 days, which “will enable us to attract more passengers from across Lancashire and the Lake District to Blackpool rather than the other north-west airports”.
But why should passengers who arrive by taxi or public transport have to fund this? In reality, says Jeans, “it could be that it’s not viable for Blackpool to have its own airport seeing as Liverpool and Manchester are right on its doorstep”.
The issue of development fees is different at Newquay and Norwich as these cities are remote. James Fremantle, industry affairs manager at the AUC, says: “You could argue that not having an airport near these cities wouldn’t be in the customers’ interest. Newquay wouldn’t be viable without its £5 development fee. I imagine most people in Cornwall would be prepared to pay it as they want a local airport.”
A spokesman from Easyjet says: “We are aware that airports need to improve their commercial activities, but some are taking matters to extremes. We see this as double-charging the passenger. Luton may claim its average time for clearing the security queue is six to eight minutes [for those not paying its £3 queue-jump fee], but last week it took me 17 minutes.”
In their defence, the airports say their fees are optional. But as Jeans points out, some are less so than others. “Most people don’t realise they are already paying £10 to use the facilities at Luton,” he says. (These are contained in the “charges and fees” included in the ticket price.)
Luton’s £3 fee to jump the security queue can be considered optional, but with some of the other fees, passengers have little choice. Previously, the rail-air bus link from Luton Parkway to the terminal was free, but the airport withdrew funding so now people have to pay £1. Meanwhile, luggage trolleys also cost £1 to hire, and the airport charges £1 for clear plastic bags to take liquids through security.
Luton is now operated by a consortium of Spanish companies and the worry is that similar charges will appear at Cardiff and Belfast, the other airports it operates. Nic Horton, Luton’s general manager of projects and development, says of the proposed £1 drop-off fee: “Dropping passengers off can be a stressful experience. We provide the right facilities and enough time for people to unload in a secure environment. Making a small charge reminds drivers of the ten-minute time allocation and keeps traffic flowing.” The airport says passengers would be able to avoid the fee by driving to the mid-term car park and taking the transfer bus. Birmingham already has a £1 passenger drop-off fee in place, while Liverpool and Leeds both charge £3 security queue-jump fees, and Bristol £5.
The airlines, who are guilty of charging their own fees, say they have no option. Jeans says: “The pressure is on all of us to keep fares low as ultimately it drives purchases.” He also maintains it would be impossible for carriers to get together and revert to all-inclusive pricing as it would be deemed as collusion, which is illegal under competition rules.
But he adds: “When airports get in on the act it makes air travel look like a monumental hassle. Passengers don’t want to go through all this at the start of a trip. As an industry, we need to address the issue ourselves or people will turn off.”
The extras you could be paying
One-way flight: £49.99
Plus…
Taxes and fees: £5
Handling fee: £5
Airport check-in and one bag in the hold: £20
Speedy boarding: £3
Insurance: £7
Development fee: £10
Passenger drop-off: £1
Use of trolley: £1
Clear bag: £1
Fast security clearance: £5
Text confirmation: £1
Possible total: £108.99
