"Wichita Mid-Continent Airport's overhaul may hike user fees"

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Airport's overhaul may hike user fees
BY MOLLY MCMILLIN
The Wichita (KS) Eagle


Passenger facility charges paid by Wichita Mid-Continent Airport travelers
could rise in order to accelerate airport improvements in Wichita.

Mid-Continent officials will recommend that the City Council approve a $1.50
per ticket increase in passenger facility charges. If approved, charges
would rise from $3 per ticket to $4.50, director of airports Bailis Bell
said.

The local fees are assessed on fares from Wichita. Passengers pay the
charges when they buy their tickets. Congress gives airports the right to
collect the fees to help with financial support.

Any increases in fees from Wichita require the approval of the City Council
and the federal government.

The fees would help pay to pave and reconstruct some aprons, roads and ramps
at the airport, new loading bridges and a quick-response vehicle.

About $7.6 million of the more than $20 million in estimated costs will be
paid by the passenger facility charges. The majority of the remaining costs
will be paid for by Federal Aviation Administration grants.

With the fee increases, the projects could be completed in the next year and
a half, Bell said.

The issue will go before the City Council at its Jan. 11 meeting. If it
approves, an application will be sent to the federal government for final
approval.

Passengers have been paying $3 per ticket in passenger facility charges to
depart from Wichita since 1993, Bell said.


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