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Massport Board Approves Mid-Year Adjustment to Airport Rates and Charges

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Port Authority Board today approved a mid-year adjustment to its rates and charges for fiscal year 2011 reducing landing fees, baggage screening fees, and most per passenger fees while slightly raising some terminal rents at Boston Logan International Airport.

The Massport Board approved the Logan landing fee at $4.61 per 1,000 pounds, which is .14 cents below the $4.75 landing fee approved last year. Baggage fees declined .05 cents from last year’s approved $1.28 per bag rate to $1.23 per bag. Terminal building rates for Terminal A, Terminal B and Terminal C, are unchanged while rental rates in Terminal E will increase slightly but will be offset by a reduction in some passenger fees. These rates were originally established last fall based on Massport’s budgets and airline activity including landing operations and passenger information provided by the airlines. Through February, landed weights at Logan are more than three percent higher than projected, and passenger numbers in certain facilities are four to six percent higher than projected. Mid-year adjustments allow the airport to recover unanticipated costs or adjust for a change in volumes that may impact rates. As a result of these mid-year adjustments, most airlines will see savings in their operating costs at Logan International Airport.

“These reductions in fees come at a time when the airline industry is once again faced with high prices for aviation fuel due to the increased cost of oil,” said Massport CEO and Executive Director Thomas J. Kinton, Jr. “We’ve worked hard to contain costs and to maintain a relatively flat cost structure for the past three and a half years which is a significant achievement.’’

The terminal rates, landing fees and baggage screening fees are formula-driven in compliance with federal regulations and computed annually to cover the capital and operating costs associated with the operation and maintenance of the airfield and the baggage screening system. The rates do not represent a source of net revenue for Massport and are established based on service projections provided by the airlines.

Massport receives no state tax funding and is governed by a seven member Board. Six of the members are appointed to staggered seven-year terms by the Governor of Massachusetts, and the Secretary of Transportation serves as an ex officio member.

Boston Logan, 15 minutes from the intersection of Route 128 and I-90 and five minutes from downtown Boston, serves as the gateway to the New England region and offers nonstop service to 70 domestic and 32 international destinations and in 2010 handled 27.4 million passengers. Boston Logan is the Air Line Pilot Association’s Airport of the Year for 2008 because of its commitment to safety. Over the past decade, the airport spent $4.5 billion on a modernization program that includes new terminals, parking facilities, roadways and airport concessions, and has been transformed into a world-class 21st Century facility. The airport generates $7 billion in total economic impact each year.

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The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) operates Boston Logan International Airport, the Port of Boston, Hanscom Field and Worcester Regional Airport. Massport is a financially self-sustaining public authority whose premier transportation facilities generate more than $8 billion annually, and enhance and enable economic growth and vitality in New England.

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