"Landing Fee"

TK211X

TK211X

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Do some airports mandate a landing fee through whatever FBO they stay at?

I'm trying to figure out how they come up with some of these prices. Surely it's not just a monopoly by the FBO.

Some airports i've landed at have no landing fee. I heard a particular FBO at Tampa international charges 172's a $100 landing fee. If I did a touch and go it's not like they bill by tail number (Do they?)
So how do some FBO's come up with the price?

Very curious, please fill me in.
 
The "landing fee" generally goes to the airport or airport authority. It is often billed by the FBO then passed on. Other times it's direct billed to the N-number address.

The "ramp fee" or "handling charge" usually goes to the FBO.

FBOs probably come up with a price just like every other business. They charge what people are willing to pay.

Some FBOs will waive the "ramp fee" for buying fuel or some other reason. They usually cannot waive the "landing fee".
 
There is a difference between a "Landing Fee" and a "Ramp Fee". Landings fees are set by the entity that owns the airport (city or county). Ramp fees are charged by the FBO. In many cases the FBO collects the landing fee on behalf of the airport management.

edit to add: I was typing too slow!
 
Everskyward said:
The "landing fee" generally goes to the airport or airport authority. It is often billed by the FBO then passed on. Other times it's direct billed to the N-number address.

The "ramp fee" or "handling charge" usually goes to the FBO.

FBOs probably come up with a price just like every other business. They charge what people are willing to pay.

Some FBOs will waive the "ramp fee" for buying fuel or some other reason. They usually cannot waive the "landing fee".
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That just about covers it. For a time Ocala was charging a security fee,collected by the FBO.
 
And in some places they call it a landing fee, but it's really a facility fee. At the MWAA airports, for example, you don't owe the fee unless you leave the movement area. You can come land and takeoff as much as you want without ever paying the fee to MWAA. Of course, I escaped paying the landing fee at IAD for years because I assumed the FBO would bill me for it like they did the fuel. Alas, unless you show up at the desk and say "I just landed" they don't know to put it on the bill. Since the Navion is kind of an odd sized thing to park, I used to park and tie it down myself and just go home. It wasn't until I wasn't based there anymore that I realized I had omitted paying it all those years.
 
I've never paid a landing fee for a touch and go.

Guess they could build a monitor ADSB and maybe even write a program to auto mail fees based off the N number database, highly doubt it, but it's possible.
 
James331 said:
I've never paid a landing fee for a touch and go.

Guess they could build a monitor ADSB and maybe even write a program to auto mail fees based off the N number database, highly doubt it, but it's possible.
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I hope they do not automate it. Lately I would have been charge a few times for each landing :eek:
 
Caldwell (KCDW) tells me it's charged by the county - I think I'm going to start sticking to Morristown, FTC is very dog friendly and on a rescue flight when I'm already shelling out $500 for airplane rental, a landing fee is a real gut punch.
 
I never heard of an airport charging for a touch and go. Landing and ramp fees yes. Man don't give them any ideas!
 
James331 said:
I've never paid a landing fee for a touch and go.

Guess they could build a monitor ADSB and maybe even write a program to auto mail fees based off the N number database, highly doubt it, but it's possible.
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Some airports (TEB?) pay a contractor to listen to the tower tapes and send bills to the N-numbers.
 
flyingron said:
Some airports (TEB?) pay a contractor to listen to the tower tapes and send bills to the N-numbers.
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As well as complain if they think you make too much noise.

F' that airport.
 
Come to think of it, they won't let me do touch and stays either...in a 172
 
Santa Monica also has some third party company do their billing. Dunno if they charge for touch and goes or not, but according to the bills I've gotten they charge the N-number at departure. The bill goes to whoever the registered owner is.
 
StinkBug said:
Santa Monica also has some third party company do their billing. Dunno if they charge for touch and goes or not, but according to the bills I've gotten they charge the N-number at departure. The bill goes to whoever the registered owner is.
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Santa Monica charges for each touch and go. Also check your bill, I've been overcharged by weight and been charged for both takeoff and landings. They adjust the bill with a quick phone call.
 
flyingron said:
Some airports (TEB?) pay a contractor to listen to the tower tapes and send bills to the N-numbers.
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Yeah, landing at TEB is going to get you a $17 fee in the mail after a week or two from the Port Authority of NY & NJ. And you have to send them a check to a PO Box in Philadelphia - go figure!
They're also not particularly smart about it. I go to TEB 12-15 times a year sometimes pretty close to back to back. I once tried to stack two payments (back to back trips) on the single invoice of the first trip and put in a note saying 'I know this invoice is only for the trip on X/X date but I also landed on X/Y date and am paying both at this time." A week or two later I got the second invoice (for X/Y) trip along with, in a separate envelope, a refund for my overpayment on the X/X trip invoice.
Come on guys...
 
That's because the system is automated. Nobody ever read your note, it just got deposited with a couple thousand others and when the numbers didn't match they automatically "fixed" it.
 
mscard88 said:
I never heard of an airport charging for a touch and go. Landing and ramp fees yes. Man don't give them any ideas!
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Many moons ago while in the military I did some flying at a small local airport in Germany. The flight school of sorts was run by an American - who had a German wife. There was a
fee for each landing - which you paid in cash at the Airport office afterwards. It wasn't much - but could add up if you did a lot of T&Gs. They didn't count each bounce (of which
there were many in my attempts to master a Piper Cub).

Dave
 
Mopauly said:
Caldwell (KCDW) tells me it's charged by the county - I think I'm going to start sticking to Morristown, FTC is very dog friendly and on a rescue flight when I'm already shelling out $500 for airplane rental, a landing fee is a real gut punch.
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Yes, the landing fee at KCDW is charged by the county. We charge each landing including touch & goes. We do not charge landing fees for aircraft based at the airport, aircraft owned by the government, state police aircraft, military aircraft, and charity flights (which includes animal rescue flights like Pilots & Paws).
 
As mentioned above Santa Monica does charge for touch and goes. Most places I have been the FBO charges not the airport. I have been in Yuma a few times and they do not charge for landing, overnight tie downs at the FBO with or without fuel. I wish more airports welcomed us small guys like they do.
 
flyingron said:
Some airports (TEB?) pay a contractor to listen to the tower tapes and send bills to the N-numbers.
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We've always had a Port Autority rep meet us at the airplane. He'd be waiting for us before we even dropped the door.
 
Luvrv8 said:
As mentioned above Santa Monica does charge for touch and goes. Most places I have been the FBO charges not the airport. I have been in Yuma a few times and they do not charge for landing, overnight tie downs at the FBO with or without fuel. I wish more airports welcomed us small guys like they do.
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NYL doesn't even charge for overnights. It's a regular stop for me and I've left the plane there for a week for no charge...

My old CFI said its because of a lease agreement with the base.

The $1 breakfast is pretty solid too

Protip: self serve is close and .50 cheaper


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I wish there was a map overlay on ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot depicting landing fees for airports like there are for fuel prices. You can often find the fees in the comments section of FF, but it's less convenient and often out of date. I'd rather have a "Restaurant on Field" and "Mogas Available" overlay first, though.
 
Teterboro probably spends about $16 to collect the $16 landing fee for a single. Instead of giving the FBOs a couple of $$ to collect it, they collect your information on a form and send you a bill a couple of weeks later.
 
flyingron said:
Some airports (TEB?) pay a contractor to listen to the tower tapes and send bills to the N-numbers.
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TEB collects manually. Hanscom and some other Massport facility have an automated collection system.
 
Cogito said:
Santa Monica charges for each touch and go. Also check your bill, I've been overcharged by weight and been charged for both takeoff and landings. They adjust the bill with a quick phone call.
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They might adjust it even quicker after a fraud complaint. Don't assume the mistake(s) were accidental.
 
The funniest one was the total perplexed look from the girl at the desk at one airport when they found that there was no Navion on the list of aircraft types.
I was lobbying for the fact that that means I shouldn't be charged, but I finally settled for paying the same as a Bonanza.
 
So these airports that actually charge for a T&G and receive federal funding doesn't seem right to me. Has it ever been challenged? A public airport right? Of course there's portions of interstates that charge too so maybe they can get away with it.

How do they bill a transient that just flew in, did a T&G, and then departed that airport?
 
mscard88 said:
So these airports that actually charge for a T&G and receive federal funding doesn't seem right to me. Has it ever been challenged? A public airport right? Of course there's portions of interstates that charge too so maybe they can get away with it.
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Nothing says you can't have tolls or other fees on federally funded facilities. Ever been to a National Park?
How do they bill a transient that just flew in, did a T&G, and then departed that airport?
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Have you been following the thread? They take your N-number and send the registered owner a bill.
 
flyingron said:
Have you been following the thread? They take your N-number and send the registered owner a bill.
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Kinda funny in a way. Paying (salary & bennies) someone to observe you and then billing you. WOnder if they make a profit on that. No doubt they do I guess.
 
mscard88 said:
Kinda funny in a way. Paying (salary & bennies) someone to observe you and then billing you. WOnder if they make a profit on that. No doubt they do I guess.
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Such is much of the "user fee" system that is the part I bristle at. For years, it cost the state of NJ more to collect the tolls on the GSP than they were netting. With these private collection systems I suspect the only people really getting revenue are the contractors.
 
Next thing you know, they'll have EZPass readers next to the runways. Whoops... that would catch low passes, too.

Actually, I guess it's one more incentive to do thorough x-c planning. The money we save at some fuel stops could be more than offset by what we'd lose with a punitive landing fee.
 
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I've been to airports where, for aircraft based there, a landing fee is assessed only for landings late at night, after the tower and the FBOs are closed. If you return a rental plane late at night and don't mention your tail number on the CTAF, are you likely to be charged the fee?
 
A few years ago I was billed for a landing fee of about $800 for landing my RV-6A in some airport in Australia. They would not listen to my explanation that my 39-gallons of fuel would never get me to Australia. They kept billing me and adding late fees until I finally threatened to file a formal complaint with the Australian aviation folks. What a mindless situation.
 
flyingron said:
Some airports (TEB?) pay a contractor to listen to the tower tapes and send bills to the N-numbers.
Click to expand...
weilke said:
TEB collects manually. Hanscom and some other Massport facility have an automated collection system.
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I got a charge for departing Hanscom once. I flew by about 10 miles to the west twice that day aND never stopped. It took me months to get it straightened out. The company is Vector if I recall. There is no landing fee there, just a take off fee plus a surcharge if you depart between 11p and 7a. You probably shouldn't contact ground until officially 7a. You will be charged.
 
Why would they charge you a fee after (tower) hours? I don't get the logic behind that.
 
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