Editorial: Hoping airport users may get a break

Acting airport chief executive Wayne Wootton says the scrapping of the departure levy from the airport is a positive move. Photo / Paul Taylor

For the past 13 years, flying out of Rotorua Airport has been a little different to leaving most other domestic airports.

Regular users may no longer blink an eyelid at going to the departure levy counter after checking in and handing over $5 before their flight.

It's "only" $5 after all and it's rare in my experience for the payment process to take more than a few seconds. Hardly a big deal, some would argue.

Yet it's something that does raise eyebrows and questions from visitors - I don't think I have ever boarded a flight at Rotorua and not seen at least one perplexed-looking person be sent back from the gate to get their missing "departure levy paid" sticker.

Acting airport chief executive Wayne Wootton says this Sunday's scrapping of the departure levy from the airport is a positive move and few would argue with that.

We want flying out of (and into) our city to be as seamless as possible for visitors. And for regular local users those "only" $5 payments add up over time.

Since the announcement of the change was made, it's been stressed the increased landing costs would be passed on to airlines, with the public being warned they may build that into their fares.

So it's encouraging Mr Wootton says he hasn't yet seen any evidence of increased fares. With their fares fluctuating all the time due to a range of factors, it may be difficult to tell whether Air NZ does raise fares due to this change.

Let's hope they give customers a break and choose not to.