Landing Fees in Portuguese Airports: Proposal for a Scheme Based on Marginal Costs of Runway Use

How the real costs of maintenance and renewal of runways and related taxiways and aprons can be assigned to users on the basis of aircraft classification number (ACN) is analyzed, following previous work by Hogan and Starkie, who compared their results with actual fees charged in Dublin, Ireland. This paper furthers the consideration of off-peak charges per marginal induced damage costs with data from Lisbon, Porto, and Faro, Portugal, in 2009. A fairness factor is defined to assess what each aircraft type pays versus the damage it inflicts on pavements. Huge relative unfairness is highlighted under the current maximum takeoff weight fee scheme among various aircraft types at the three airports. A linear relationship between marginal cost per €1,000,000 and induced damage by each aircraft type is derived. Finally, a new and fair landing fee scheme is proposed that is based on ACN-related marginal costs. Simplifications and assumptions with regard to full cost recovery with marginal cost pricing are considered. The conclusion is that a strong case can be made for application to large and medium aircraft, but perhaps not to small aircraft.