Submission on Airports (Cost Recovery) Act consultation

The Airports (Cost Recovery for Processing of International Travellers) Act was introduced to Parliament in 2010 and passed in 2014. It was intended to manage costs to the Crown from regional airports starting or re-establishing international flights. At that time, biosecurity and customs screening was funded by the Crown as a public good.

The legislation has never been enforced.

The Border Processing Levies (BPLs) were introduced in 2015. Through the BPLs, passengers now pay for biosecurity and customs screening, through one standardised charge.

The Government commenced a three-week urgent consultation this month to develop regulations that would enforce the Airports (Cost Recovery) Act.

Among the options are proposals that would involve regional airports paying extra costs of $1.1m-$1.5m either upfront or through cost recovery. These costs would be prohibitive for all airports and would require support from local authorities or passing on to passengers.

All airports, including existing international airports, support the use of the BPLs as a fairer way to spread the cost of screening services around the country and support competition.

The BPLs mean all passengers are charged a standardised fee. This recognises that the air transport system is a network. If regional passengers were required to pay the costs of government agency services according to the location of the airport, regional air routes would be unviable.

Flights on unserved routes to regional airports can add important trans-Tasman capacity to the network. In the past, New Zealanders have had access to international flights from Dunedin, Hamilton, Palmerston North and Rotorua.

See our submission below, as well as a supporting legal opinion.