Airfares cop security fee

The price of Skywest airfares to and from Busselton will be increased to accommodate additional security screening fees at the Busselton Regional Airport.

Busselton City councillors voted unanimously to award the tender for the supply of security screening services at Wednesday’s meeting, at a fixed rate of $480 per flight.

This will bring the airport in line with the Aviation Transport Security Act which requires all regional airports operating Regular Passenger Transport services to implement security screening measures by July 1 this year.

City of Busselton commercial services manager Jenny May said the increase in fees would be passed on through the airfare tickets.

“Consultation with Skywest has occurred on the proposed increased fees for the airport and are understanding of the reasons why the fees have been increased,” she told the Times.

Under the accepted tender, City officers proposed the introduction of a $20 passenger screening fee, in addition to an increased head tax and landing fees.

In the report, officers said, based on current passenger numbers, the council would not be able to recover 100 per cent of the security screening contract costs as it would significantly increase the cost of airfares and render the RPT service unviable.

Ms May said the proposed fee structure would not significantly increase the airfare tickets, to ensure Skywest’s RPT route was not adversely impacted.

The City will undertake a full financial analysis after the first year of security screen operations and report to Council.

Geographe Bay Tourism Association chief executive Simon Taylor said the security screening was imperative to the future development of the airport and it was reasonable some of this cost would be passed on to consumers.

“Consumers will factor these additional costs into their decision making process, against the convenience of flying to the destination,” he said.

Skywest would not comment on the additional fees and charges when contacted by the Times.