§ Mr. Carmichaelasked the Secretary of State for Trade if he will give an estimate of the total cost of airport passenger security checks at British Airports Authority airports and the total income expected from the proposed new charges per passenger; and if he is considering a reduced charge for package tour passengers.
§ Mr. EyreIt is estimated that the total cost of aviation security measures at the seven British Airport Authority airports in the financial year 1980–81 will be approximately £27,000,000 of which 65 per cent. is for searching, and that levy income in respect of the same airports will be a little over £34,000,000. The excess of income over expenditure will pay off the deficit of nearly £6,000,000 incurred in 1979–80, when the income from the levy was insufficient to reimburse security expenditure at BAA and other United Kingdom airports. It will also contribute to the cost of certain expenses borne by the aviation security fund that cannot be attributed to particular airports. The levy payable by airport authorities to the fund has been calculated at a rate of £1.60 per arriving passenger since 1 February 1980, and there are no plans to distinguish between types of passenger for the purpose of this calculation.