Do you pay airfield access fees?

[pmccarthy]

Many airfields charge an annual access fee for aircraft based there. This is on top of hangar lease fees, which go to the hangar owner.

Do you pay an access fee and if so, how much? Are there discounts available for certain situations or voluntary airfield maintenance?

 

Thanks, Peter

 

 

[Yenn]

We pay the landowner $300pa for his insurance. Also pay the group who run the strip $10 per month to cover fuel etc for the mowing and maintenance. Good value. We own the hangars and so far they change hands and only one was demolished when the owner departed.

[KRviator]

I live adjacent to a Council-owned airfield and pay an annual "access fee" for through-the-back-gate access. I'm also entitled to an annual landing fee, but the Council billing system doesn't seem to recognise that so they continue to bill me for each landing. Which I continue to ignore.

[Blueadventures]

Pay $1150-00 per year, $1,000 is maintenance fee and $150- mowing account.  We maintain a 700 meter bitumen strip and have insurance cover for the group.  Hangars are owned.

[pylon500]

I also live backed onto a council owned(?) airfield that started charging me an 'access fee', on top of my landing fees, about three years ago.

When I set up here fifteen years ago, I was informed that I could operate here and an annual landing fee of $250 per aircraft, I told them I can only fly one aircraft at a time, and paid them the $250.

The next year it was $350, and within five years it was around $1000 per year. Everyone started to complain, which led to 'we can make you a deal, but don't tell anyone else' type of deal (which turned out to be the same price for everyone anyway), valued at $1200 per year.

I told them to stick it where the sun don't shine, and just started paying per 'movement'.

One year, someone at council dreamed up a 'block annual' fee, $900 for 100 movements, which seemed sort of reasonable, although I was typically doing around 150 hours per year, and was asked to buy another $900 block...

Initially when I got here, landings were billed via Avdata, however, when council figured that Avdata took something like 60% of the take, they dropped Avdata and figured a new system using cameras to photograph all aircraft entering a runway from a taxiway.

However, I had access to a grass runway without the need to taxi past a camera, bur when council figured this out, THEY DUG A TRENCH the length of the runway, on my side, under guise of 'better drainage' for the grass runway, which is often closed because of 'soft wet surface'. I'll point out that the grass runway here has been closed most of this year, but then we have had some serious rain lately.

Five years ago, another property that adjoins the airfield was sold, and the new owner was a pilot and aircraft owner, and asked for access to the airport and this was agreed to (would be interesting to know how much this cost...)

This property had a (different) drainage ditch near it's fence line, so the owner asked about creating a culvert. He could have done this himself for probably around $500, but council said they had to do all works on the airfield, and it probably set him back around $3000.

They (council) now had to mow up to his access point (forget the fact they mow the entire airfield anyway as a matter of course), and decided they would have to 'cover their costs' by charging him an access fee of $500 per year.

Naturally I fell into the same boat and was informed that I also would be charged $500 a year to cover mowing of my 'taxiway' (once again, mowed anyway), although it was interesting when I went to council to pay my first bill, and the girl asked for $550!

I tried to correct her, but she stated GST.

The following year it was $560, then one year they offered me a combine annual landing plus access for $1555.00, which I took, only to be one of the wettest years on record with the ground so soft I couldn't fly for nearly two months.

The following year was going to be $1700 per year, so I went back to pay per fly..

Just looking at this year's 'Draft fees booklet', I'll be paying around $588 for access, and landing fees will go up to $12.55, although I'm a little worried at the wording, as it could be misconstrued as saying it will be $12.55 PER LANDING, in light of a nearby airport owned by a different, but equally stupid and money grabbing council, touting they would go to individual touchdown fees, as I think they still use Avdata, and will record all 'turning base' radio calls. 😱

OK, enough rant...