Airport fee raises hackles, but convenience triumphs

The £3 fee payable at Norwich Airport before passengers can proceed into the departure lounge has come under scrutiny in the local press as a passenger questions the charge.

While the Civil Aviation Authority controls how much airports are permitted to charge travellers at Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport, Stansted Airport and Manchester Airport, other UK hubs are permitted to levy fees as they see fit.

Norwich Airport authorities say the charge, introduced this April, will go towards development, noting that such fees are ordinarily concealed in the cost of an air fare.

And as travel expert Richard Green told the Times, passengers who are indisposed to pay the charge for airport maintenance will need to file a complaint or take their custom elsewhere.

Many may be loath to do so in the light of the convenient location of the airport, however, judging from a survey from Holidays Direct last week which revealed that airport location is almost as important to passengers as the price of their flight.

A £3 fee may not, therefore, deter fliers, particularly given the variety of destinations serviced by the airport, including the Balearics, the Greek islands and the Caribbean.