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| Monday, January 14, 2008 |
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New National Policy to Make It Easier for Airports to Add Capacity and Reduce Congestion
By FlyingNews @ 8:20 PM :: 143 Views ::
0 Comments :: Airports
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U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters today announced a new national policy that would make it easier for overcrowded airports to add capacity and reduce delays by encouraging airlines to spread their flights more evenly throughout the day.
“Airports will now be able to more efficiently and effectively finance the kind of projects that will give travelers more options, airlines more opportunities, and cities like New York more visitors,” Secretary Peters said.
Once finalized, the U.S. Department of Transportation would encourage congested airports in New York and across the country to move away from the decades-old practice of charging aircraft landing fees based simply on the weight of the plane, Secretary Peters said. Instead, airports would have the flexibility to vary charges based on the time of day and the volume of traffic.
As a result, airports would be able to spread traffic more evenly throughout the day - allowing them to serve more passengers, reduce delays, and help avoid the need for sustained federal government intervention, Secretary Peters said. The proposed policy change will be open to public comment for 45 days before it is finalized, she said.
The changes to the FAA’s Policy on Airport Rates and Charges would also allow airport operators to include the cost of projects designed to expand capacity in the new landing fees. Currently, airports can only include those costs after the projects have been completed, the Secretary explained. She said the change would lower the cost of construction projects by helping airports avoid hefty finance fees.
The new policy also would allow airport operators, like the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, that operate multiple airfields to distribute landing fee revenue among those different facilities, said Secretary Peters. For example, landing fees collected at LaGuardia, Newark or JFK would be available for improvements to Stewart airport. As a result, more travelers may soon be able to take advantage of under-used airports, relieving pressure on the other airports and giving the city’s travelers even more options, she said.
“All told, these new market-based measures will help reduce congestion and increase airport investments,” Secretary Peters said.
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