HC Deb 13 March 1972 vol 833 cc12-3W
Mr. Carter-Jones

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the policy of Her Majesty's Government towards international action to standardise pasenger landing fees at airports; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Noble

We continue to support the principle advanced by the I.C.A.O. that a single charge should be applied for costs of as many as possible of the airport-provided facilities and services for normal landing and take-off of aircraft. Landing charges payable by aircraft operators and which take account of both aircraft weight and the number of passengers carried are, in our view, preferable to passenger service charges levied directly on individual passengers. This view is now shared by many other States. We are ready to participate in any further studies towards achieving more standardisation of charging methods. Because costs and traffic vary greatly it is impracticable to standardise actual charges either national or internationally.

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