State to end landing-fee waiver
By Dan Nakaso
and Susan Hooper
Advertiser Staff Writers
Gov. Ben Cayetano announced yesterday that he will reinstate millions of dollars in airport landing fees that had been waived following the Sept. 11 attacks as air travel plummeted.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
Cayetano had suspended the fees following the attacks, saying he hoped the savings would mean that airlines would preserve jobs and help stimulate air travel.
A Hawaiian Airlines Boeing 717 takes off from Honolulu International Airport, but it will cost more for such aircraft to land starting April 1, when the state's reinstatement of airport landing fees will take effect.
From Sept. 18 through Feb. 28, airlines saved approximately $15.8 million, Cayetano said.
"The state, in managing the cash reserves that were tapped to provide the landing fee waiver, has always considered the greater good of the public," Cayetano said. "As tourism continues to improve, the continuation of the waiver is simply no longer affordable."
The landing fees will be reinstated effective April 1.
The Airlines Committee of Hawaii said yesterday that although airlines across the country continue to face serious financial challenges, the waiver allowed airlines to maintain service to Hawai'i.
The announcement affects all airlines but may be a particular challenge for Hawaiian and Aloha airlines, which have suffered from the drop in tourism since Sept. 11 and are trying to merge. Both airlines have cut routes and furloughed workers since September.
"We'd hoped that the waiver could have been in place longer, because our business hasn't fully recovered from the downturn after Sept. 11," Hawaiian Airlines spokesman Keoni Wagner said. "But we are very grateful for the time that it was in place."
Aloha officials declined to comment on the governor's decision.
The state's airport system supports its operations and capital improvement projects through fees charged to airlines, concessions and other groups.
Without landing fees, state officials had to use the airport's cash reserves to pay for capital improvement projects. The fund also was tapped to offset the losses by allowing airport concessionaires to pay lower rents, based on a percentage of gross sales.
Approximately $37 million in all has been used from the airports' cash reserve to make up for the revenue shortfall.
