HL Deb 03 June 1998 vol 590 c32WA
Viscount Exmouth

asked Her Majesty's Government:

In view of the listing of Gibraltar as a British regional airport under Directive 83/416/EEC, why landing charges for Boeing 737–300 and 737–400 aircraft are levied at more than three times the level charged at comparable airports such as Tangiers, Malaga and Faro. [HL2002]

Baroness Hayman

The level of airport charges set at an airport is a matter for the airport operator, which in this case is the RAF. Landing charges levied at RAF Gibraltar, in common with those levied at other RAF airfields, reflect average charges at UK civilian airports and do no more than recover the costs incurred by the RAF in supporting civil operations.

The Directive 83/416, which covered the authorisation of scheduled inter-regional air services between member states, did not include any listing of British regional airports.