Gov’t eyes restructured airport fees

The Department of Finance (DOF) is looking into different taxation schemes in airports to generate more revenues for the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) and attract more airlines to open flights in alternate destinations.

In an interview, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the DOF is exploring ways to change the fees and rates charged to airlines based on the time of their landing or takeoff, as well as the number of gates they use, among others.

“We are looking at several ways to improve the revenues of the CAAP...as well as to encourage traffic and tourism outside the Metro Manila area,” Dominguez said.

He said among the schemes they plan to amend is the rate of landing and takeoff fees, depending on the time of the flight.

“The landing fees, I think, should be higher in the primetime. You want to land in the primetime, you pay more, you want to land in the middle of the night, you pay less,” he said.

Another option is to charge fees depending on the number of gates used in airports.

“Instead of just charging all the airlines the same, they should charge it by gate. So let’s say the airline wants to have 10 gates, they should pay by gate and it should be bid out so that its transparent and fair,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez said with more revenues in the pockets of the CAAP, this would give the agency more leeway to lower the rates in specific and targeted secondary airports.