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Recreational aircraft landing fees - feedback needed please.


waraton

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21 minutes ago, Flightrite said:

YMUR have a unique fee, $14.60 per hour! Remind me not to go there anymore!

Might be time to make a list of RAAus unfriendly airports 🙂

 

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1 hour ago, Ironpot said:

 

 

Landing fees are the norm nowadays. 

 

 

Just the" NORM" !!!1 ???????. So I guess you just role over for ASIC as well??? 

 

As a group & as members of our society we must not role over for every slight, injustice, imposition or plainly ridiculous levy/legislation. Not all of us are up to lobbying the relevant authority/minister but we can do the passive protest by avoiding (when possible) airfields with unjust/ridiculous landing fees for RAA class aircraft. We can not get an ASIC.

 

Don't let these things just become the NORM!

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 . Directions  
YBRL Borroloola Airport NT Landing $23.6363 per tonne, minimum $68.18

Does this fee promote safe aircraft operation.  It is unattended with surveillance cameras.  It promotes pilots not giving circuit calls.

I left Cessnock as aircraft would come from out of the blue, no calls, fees are quite high.

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For a really GA aviation friendly airport look to Christmas Island. In their wisdom the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications decided that $300 per movement was a reasonable fee for all planes under 20T

When questioned about this they stated that these fees were equivalent with other airports such as Kalgoolie, Geraldton, Learmonth & Port Hedland.

I pointed out that their charges were at lead 800% higher than their "Similar Airports" and suggested that they might consider it in their next review of fees and charges. While they are meant to conduct regular reviews they didn't actually.

 

A 750kg single engine piston plane landing at Kalgoolie would be charge a landing fee of $0.00

A 1500kg twin engine piston plane landing at Kalgoolie would be charge a landing fee of $19.75

 

A 750kg single engine piston plane landing at Geraldton would be charge a landing fee of $0.00

A 1500kg twin engine piston plane landing at Geraldton would be charge a landing fee of $25.50

 

A 750kg single engine piston plane landing at Learmonth would be charge a landing fee of $7.50

A 1500kg twin engine piston plane landing at Learmonth would be charge a landing fee of $35.47

 

A 750kg single engine piston plane landing at Port Hedland would be charge a landing fee of $17.95

A 1500kg twin engine piston plane landing at Port Hedland would be charge a landing fee of $35.89

 

A 750kg single engine piston plane landing at Christmas Island would be charge a landing fee of $300.00

A 1500kg twin engine piston plane landing at Christmas Island would be charge a landing fee of $300.00

 

Landing at Australia's busiest Airport which is considered expensive is would incur the following costs.

A 750kg single engine piston plane landing at  Sydney's Kingford Smith Airport would be charge a landing fee of $60.00

A 1500kg twin engine piston plane landing at Sydney's Kingford Smith Airport would be charge a landing fee of $60.00

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8 hours ago, jackc said:

Might be time to make a list of RAAus unfriendly airports 🙂

I think that is a great idea.

Also any information related into the decline of aerodromes when fees are introduced.

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21 hours ago, skippydiesel said:

Just the" NORM" !!!1 ???????. So I guess you just role over for ASIC as well??? 

 

As a group & as members of our society we must not role over for every slight, injustice, imposition or plainly ridiculous levy/legislation. Not all of us are up to lobbying the relevant authority/minister but we can do the passive protest by avoiding (when possible) airfields with unjust/ridiculous landing fees for RAA class aircraft. We can not get an ASIC.

 

Don't let these things just become the NORM!

Clearly you haven’t flown much in the real world lately then so I doubt they would notice!

 

Yes, landing fees where I operate are quite normal. I understand that providing wildlife-proof fences, well maintained WCs, fuel facilities, mowing, maintaining windsocks and markers etc does cost serious dosh and I’m quite happy to chip-in a nominal sum to ensure that I can continue to enjoy those facilities.

 

I’m sure you dodge the $5 that The Oaks levies but I’d argue that it is counterproductive to do so. You will agree that should any facility becomes a financial burden (without some clear community benefit) then, in our society, it’s days are numbered. e.g. railways, pubs, Post Offices, old RAF airfields etc. And so if an airfield continually bleeds money some non-aviation administrator person/owner will query its existence which leaves it very vulnerable to closure at some stage.

 

I’d also argue that your tightxrse attitude, simply planning via “free” airfields, bypassing certain ALAs may lead to unsafe flightplanning decisions. 

 

Sure, if you feel that a landing fee is extortionate, plan elsewhere (I certainly do) but you would have to demonstrate how you could divert Forrest or Birdsville before I can take you seriously. I agree that Port Pirie sounds idyllic.

 

The OP did not seek a political rant (ASICs???) but simply asked does your airfield waive landing fees for recreational aircraft and do landing fees impact on your flight planning? My honest opinion is that $10 -15 is quite reasonable and yes I am quite happy to pay it and will continue to do so.

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If Councils deleted Avdata, a lot more people would be happy to contribute landing fees knowing Councils got ALL the money.  Avdata parasites contribute NOTHING to Aviation as I have said previously.

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While Councils run some aerodromes they don't run them all but it seems many pilots don't know or care. When the Council was running ours the grass was only mown irregularly, the outside toilets were not well maintained nor were the fences, access roads, runways, cones and markers etc etc. Since the hangar Owners have been running the aerodrome it is well maintained and by just a few volunteers. $5.00 per RA & $10.00 per GA is not outrageous and is a just a small token towards the provision of all the facilities available to visiting pilots.

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48 minutes ago, kgwilson said:

While Councils run some aerodromes they don't run them all but it seems many pilots don't know or care. When the Council was running ours the grass was only mown irregularly, the outside toilets were not well maintained nor were the fences, access roads, runways, cones and markers etc etc. Since the hangar Owners have been running the aerodrome it is well maintained and by just a few volunteers. $5.00 per RA & $10.00 per GA is not outrageous and is a just a small token towards the provision of all the facilities available to visiting pilots.

Great job KG and your landing fees are modest BUT $10.00 for all GA no matter the weight????

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On 23/10/2021 at 3:32 PM, skippydiesel said:

Just the" NORM" !!!1 ???????. So I guess you just role over for ASIC as well??? 

 

As a group & as members of our society we must not role over for every slight, injustice, imposition or plainly ridiculous levy/legislation. Not all of us are up to lobbying the relevant authority/minister but we can do the passive protest by avoiding (when possible) airfields with unjust/ridiculous landing fees for RAA class aircraft. We can not get an ASIC.

 

Don't let these things just become the NORM!

...after ten years you think it's not?

 

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It might make a difference you write a letter or email to the relevant minister? Passive protests generally don't work because people are unaware that you're protesting and just end up with people going postal. You're obviously literate so start smoking those public servants with your wit and whimsy. Why not even offer a few of them a ride in your plane so they can witness the issues first hand. Flying is a hell of a lot more exciting than  sewage works.

Laws are there to be changed, funding is there for common goods, some Government decisions are dumb however if you don't point them out dumb wins, good government requires you  to point it out to your local member and government reps.

It might be worthwhile to point out that Government security clearance to the Secret level is valid for around 10 years, a Top Secret for 5 but for some reason an ASIC card is only valid for 2 years. Why can't ASIC clearances be available for the same period as a NV2 or TS clearance? The process behind the first two is a far more involved.

From the technology viewpoint the ASIC cards aren't good, they're just a bit of plastic with a hologram, even a phone card SIM is millions of times more secure, it reeks of security theatre. I don't think that phone apps are particularly secure however they're orders of magnitude better than an ASIC card.

The 9/11 attacks demonstrated that you can weaponize public transport however there were many mitigations which would provide a more effective control than ASIC cards and fences and security guards around regional airports are an expensive folly. 

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2 hours ago, Flightrite said:

More and more corrupt grubby councils are raping theGA community, YBDG and not so long ago YSHT, both places have lost my dollars!

And Avdata parasites are helping them, only because Councils are too lazy to do their own admin, ratepayers should expect better…….

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5 hours ago, skippydiesel said:

Great job KG and your landing fees are modest BUT $10.00 for all GA no matter the weight????

$25.00 for twins but we don't get many. Mostly they are charters and they always pay. We provide receipts for tax purposes if they request one. Our landing fees are published in ERSA & we just have an honesty box with a couple of signs saying where it is. 

 

The last runway reseal was 60k & it was only because the resealing company was doing roads locally. The other quote was 95k. The taxi way requires resealing too & both have to be done every 10 years max. As mentioned earlier, operating costs are around 50k a year which includes our capital sinking fund for resealing.

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1 minute ago, kgwilson said:

$25.00 for twins but we don't get many. Mostly they are charters and they always pay. We provide receipts for tax purposes if they request one. Our landing fees are published in ERSA & we just have an honesty box with a couple of signs saying where it is. 

 

The last runway reseal was 60k & it was only because the resealing company was doing roads locally. The other quote was 95k. The taxi way requires resealing too & both have to be done every 10 years max. As mentioned earlier, operating costs are around 50k a year which includes our capital sinking fund for resealing.

Sounds like a really well run operation…….a few others could learn from it 🙂 

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Broken Hill is the only airport that has charged me in the last year. I have had a couple where they have come out to me after landing and ask why they can't find the 24  registration number in the database. I just say that its recreational and we are exempt from landing charges. Seems to work.

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Given the choice I will bypass an airport with landing fees and fly another 50NM to get to one that doesn't charge.

 

The other thing to think about is some money-hungry councils charge per landing!  No daily rate. So if you're doing circuits in an RV that goes up-and-down like a brides nighty, you can conceivably run up fees in excess of $275/hour (based on Warnervale's charging structure) - they had the gall to insert a fee for "Refuelling on council land" too, flamin' asrehats.

 

It worked out cheaper to fly from Warnervale-Archerfield & fly 1hr of circuits there & refuel-Warnervale than to do an hour of circuits at Warnervale and refuel afterwards, so what does that tell you?

 

Toowoomba is another one that charges itinerant aircraft per landing.

 

If the airport is privately owned by an individual or club I have no problem with chucking $5-10 in a tin. But if it is council owned then they can get stuffed. Until they put toll booths on the roads into town, I'll be damned if I contribute so much as a ruble to the maintenance of the airport anymore than I would the maintenance of the road into town were I to arrive in the other RV...:angry:

 

 

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I wonder what Ayres Rock charges these days? No mention in Avdata, and no landing fees listed in ERSA.

When I landed there in June 2014 the airport LandCruiser wagon with the flashing lights pulled up before I had even put feet on the ground. Out came the clipboard and all personal details taken, including credit card details. My passenger and I went in to the terminal for a comfort stop and a coffee and on returning had to 'phone the wagon driver so that he could come back and unlock the gate to the parking area. No un-escorted pilot access allowed!

We then flew the prescribed scenic route and landed again, fuelled up and went back to the terminal for lunch. Same routine again.

About 3 weeks after returning home the 2 landing fees appeared on my credit card statement - $40.00 each landing, and this was 7 years ago.

I'm not complaining, as the experience was one of those once-in-a-lifetime events and was well worth the expense for the satisfaction of being able to DIY the flight.

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  • 4 months later...
On 23/10/2021 at 2:06 PM, jackc said:

Might be time to make a list of RAAus unfriendly airports 🙂

 

Maybe it is time to make a list of AEROPLANE unfriendly airports since some, including the Roper Coast NT, are very unfriendly.

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On 25/10/2021 at 5:48 PM, bushcaddy105 said:

I wonder what Ayres Rock charges these days? No mention in Avdata, and no landing fees listed in ERSA.

When I landed there in June 2014 the airport LandCruiser wagon with the flashing lights pulled up before I had even put feet on the ground. Out came the clipboard and all personal details taken, including credit card details. My passenger and I went in to the terminal for a comfort stop and a coffee and on returning had to 'phone the wagon driver so that he could come back and unlock the gate to the parking area. No un-escorted pilot access allowed!

We then flew the prescribed scenic route and landed again, fuelled up and went back to the terminal for lunch. Same routine again.

About 3 weeks after returning home the 2 landing fees appeared on my credit card statement - $40.00 each landing, and this was 7 years ago.

I'm not complaining, as the experience was one of those once-in-a-lifetime events and was well worth the expense for the satisfaction of being able to DIY the flight.

Some years ago I just flew over and thenw by Ayres Rock.  It had the radio operator all confused. He thought that I was landing, told him I could not afford it for so limited gain.  I also got to see why there is a fly unneighbourly area.  Mmmmmmm.

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