Airport Improvement Fee
Encyclopedia
An Airport Improvement Fee or Embarkation Fee or Airport Tax or Service charge or Service fee is an additional fee charged to departing and connecting passenger
s at an airport
. It is levied by government
or an airport management corporation and the proceeds are usually intended for funding of major airport
improvements or expansion or airport
service. Some airports do not levy these fees upon connecting passengers who do not leave the airport or whose connecting flight is within a specific timeframe after they arrive.
In the United States, the federal Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) Program allows the collection of PFC fees up to $4.50 for every enplaned passenger at commercial airports controlled by public agencies. Airports use these fees to fund FAA-approved projects that enhance safety, security, or capacity; reduce noise; or increase air carrier competition. Federal law limits use of PFC funds strictly to the above categories.
Depending on the location, the Airport Improvement Fee is included in the cost of traveller's airline
ticket, in which case the airline will forward the fee to proper agency. However, in some locations the fee must be paid at the point of embarkation. This often creates difficulties for departing passengers who are unfamiliar with this type of procedure, or for departing international passengers who have already exchanged all their local currency. The amount varies usually between US$10 and US$30. In some instances, the fee continues to be charged long after construction has been completed (i.e. Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport
). A legitimate reason for this is that the airport must finance the cost of the improvement and then pays off these costs over an extended period of time.
Airports currently collecting an explicit airport improvement fee include:
Passenger
A passenger is a term broadly used to describe any person who travels in a vehicle, but bears little or no responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination....
s at an airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
. It is levied by government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
or an airport management corporation and the proceeds are usually intended for funding of major airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
improvements or expansion or airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
service. Some airports do not levy these fees upon connecting passengers who do not leave the airport or whose connecting flight is within a specific timeframe after they arrive.
In the United States, the federal Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) Program allows the collection of PFC fees up to $4.50 for every enplaned passenger at commercial airports controlled by public agencies. Airports use these fees to fund FAA-approved projects that enhance safety, security, or capacity; reduce noise; or increase air carrier competition. Federal law limits use of PFC funds strictly to the above categories.
Depending on the location, the Airport Improvement Fee is included in the cost of traveller's airline
Airline
An airline provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines lease or own their aircraft with which to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for mutual benefit...
ticket, in which case the airline will forward the fee to proper agency. However, in some locations the fee must be paid at the point of embarkation. This often creates difficulties for departing passengers who are unfamiliar with this type of procedure, or for departing international passengers who have already exchanged all their local currency. The amount varies usually between US$10 and US$30. In some instances, the fee continues to be charged long after construction has been completed (i.e. Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport
Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport
Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier International Airport or Macdonald-Cartier International Airport , in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada is named after Sirs John A. Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier...
). A legitimate reason for this is that the airport must finance the cost of the improvement and then pays off these costs over an extended period of time.
Airports currently collecting an explicit airport improvement fee include:
- Jorge Chavez International AirportJorge Chávez International AirportJorge Chávez International Airport , known as Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez in Spanish, is Peru's main international and domestic airport. It is located in Callao, 11 kilometers from the Historic Centre of Lima and 17 km from Miraflores. Callao is the port city now fully...
Lima, Peru - Ministro Pistarini International AirportMinistro Pistarini International AirportMinistro Pistarini International Airport , more commonly known as Ezeiza International Airport owing to its location within the Ezeiza Partido in the Greater Buenos Aires, is an international airport located south-southwest of Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina...
(Ezeiza), Buenos Aires, Argentina - Ramón Villeda Morales International Airport Ramón Villeda Morales International AirportRamón Villeda Morales International Airport , also known as La Mesa International Airport, is located from the city of San Pedro Sula, in the Cortés Department in Honduras. The airport is named after Ramón Villeda Morales, who served as President of Honduras from 1957 to 1963.It is the major and...
San Pedro Sula, Honduras - Ngurah Rai AirportNgurah Rai AirportNgurah Rai International Airport , also known as Denpasar International Airport, is located in southern Bali, 13 km south of Denpasar...
(Denpasar), Bali, Indonesia - Indira Gandhi International AirportIndira Gandhi International AirportIndira Gandhi International Airport is the primary international airport of the National Capital Region of Delhi, India, situated in West Delhi, 16 km southwest of New Delhi city centre. Named after Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India, it is the busiest airport in India in...
New Delhi, India - Soekarno-Hatta International AirportSoekarno-Hatta International AirportSoekarno–Hatta International Airport , popularly abbreviated SHIA or Soetta is the main airport serving the greater Jakarta area on the island of Java, Indonesia. The airport is named after the first President of Indonesia, Soekarno, and the first vice-president, Mohammad Hatta. The airport is...
JakartaJakartaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, IndonesiaIndonesiaIndonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an... - Carrasco International AirportCarrasco International AirportCarrasco/General Cesáreo L. Berisso International Airport , commonly known simply by Aeropuerto Internacional de Carrasco in reference to the neighborhood where it is located, is the main airport serving Montevideo, Uruguay, located in the adjoining municipality of Ciudad de la Costa...
, Montevideo, Uruguay - Norwich International AirportNorwich International AirportNorwich International Airport , also known as Norwich Airport, is an airport in the City of Norwich within Norfolk, England north of the city centre and on the edge of the city's suburbs....
, NorwichNorwichNorwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... - Newquay Cornwall Airport, NewquayNewquayNewquay is a town, civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port in Cornwall, England. It is situated on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall approximately west of Bodmin and north of Truro....
, United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... - Ireland West Airport KnockIreland West Airport Knock-Ground transport:BusBus Éireann currently provide services from the Airport on the Derry-Sligo-Galway and Galway-Sligo-Derry Route 64, Ireland West Airport Knock - Castlebar - Westport - Achill Island route 440, Dublin - Athlone - Ireland West Airport Knock - Westport route 21, and connects with...
, KnockKnockKnock Mary") is a small town in County Mayo, Ireland whose notability derives from the Knock Shrine where it is claimed the Virgin Mary, together with St Joseph and St John the Evangelist, appeared in 1879....
, Republic of IrelandRepublic of IrelandIreland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,... - Ninoy Aquino International AirportNinoy Aquino International AirportThe Ninoy Aquino International Airport or NAIA , also known as Manila International Airport , is the airport serving the general area of Manila and its surrounding metropolitan area...
, ManilaManilaManila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam... - Almost all Canadian international airports
- Almost all BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian airports administered by InfraeroInfraeroEmpresa Brasileira de Infraestrutura Aeroportuária, Infraero in short, is a Brazilian government corporation created in 1972 and responsible for operating the main Brazilian commercial airports. In 2009, Infraero's airports carried 128,135,616 passengers and 1,114,754 tons of cargo and operated... - All airports in China
See also
- Air Passenger DutyAir Passenger DutyAir Passenger Duty is an excise duty which is charged on the carriage of passengers flying from a United Kingdom airport on an aircraft that has an authorised take off weight of more than ten tonnes or more than twenty seats for passengers...
, an excise charge levied on passengers departing the United Kingdom - German air passenger taxesGerman air passenger taxesGerman air passenger taxes are excise duties and other charges levied by the German government on most passengers departing by air, either in addition to the price of the airline ticket or incorporated into the ticket price.-Ecologocal departure tax:...
- The Irish Air Travel TaxAir Travel TaxThe Air Travel Tax is an Irish tax flights departing from airports in Ireland. It was introduced in the 2009 Budget. Until 28 February 2011, there are 2 rates of tax, €10 for each passenger flying to an airport more than 300 km from Dublin Airport, and €2 per passenger flying to any other...
External links
- Departure tax paid locally, for Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Caribbean, Middle East and Pacific region airports (travel-nation.co.uk)