Passengers to carry cost of air safety

The cost of an international airline ticket could rise by $4.31 for aviation security from October under a new Government plan.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen said yesterday that international travellers would have to pay the charge to help meet the $105 million spent each year on customs, biosecurity and flying security.

The Government had originally proposed that new international airports meet the full cost of government services to avoid further unnecessary and expensive duplication of resources.

But it has shelved that plan.

Some provincial airports cried foul last year at a Government proposal for them to bear the full cost of passenger clearance services.

Airports such as Invercargill, Napier and Rotorua are said to be considering international flights. Waitakere City and Infratil have also been promoting commercial use of Whenuapai Air Base, including international flights.

But Dr Cullen said yesterday that new entrants would have to carry their full passenger clearance costs for a probationary period only, after which they would be brought into a new funding regime.

That regime will involve an even split between the Government and the industry to cover passenger clearance costs, as well as a uniform charge for both metropolitan and provincial airport international passengers, adding an expected $4.31.

The money will help to cover aviation security charges, which the airlines will fund, while the Government pays for biosecurity and customs services.

Dr Cullen said the Government had listened to arguments raised by Rotorua, Invercargill and Napier airports and by local Labour MPs on their behalf.

He said the Government was also dumping a proposal to introduce a small user-pays element for biosecurity and customs at regional airports to reflect their higher-per-passenger costs. It would have collected about $244,000 a year, which was too small to justify the administrative expense.

Infratil executive Tim Brown said the Government's decisions were a complete about-face.

"I think it's great; it's exactly what we wanted."

Rotorua Airport chief executive Neil Oppatt also welcomed the Government's decision.

He said the original proposal would have made the airport's plans for transtasman flights too costly to be viable.

The cost would have been up to $120 per passenger despite Auckland Airport only charging $8 a passenger.

"I don't think the Government necessarily backed down. They accepted our argument, and I give full marks to them."

Mr Oppatt said Rotorua's upgrading plans included lengthening the runway by 250m. A further extension of between 120m and 430m, if consent was given, would make the airport fully transtasman-capable in one to two years.