Air Labrador to raise fees amid government-imposed landing fee
A new landing fee imposed on airlines in Labrador will likely result in higher costs for passengers and less frequent flights, says Air Labrador.
CEO Philip Earle says a staffer with the department of Transportation and Works called several minutes after the release of Thursday's provincial budget to say every time an Air Labrador flight touches down on a provincially-owned airstrip, a $40 fee would be imposed.
"The disappointing part was that there was no consultation. We're one of two service providers to those particular communities," Earle told Labrador Morning.
"This is a huge change. It's a new tax to people who can least afford it."
Do the math
The fee will tack upwards of $500,000 onto the Inuit-owned company's bottom line.
Earle said Air Labrador does approximately 40 landings every day for an entire year.
"In this particular case, how do you find half-a-million dollars? It has to trickled down. It has to be passed on to the ridership, to the users of the service and that's the greatest concern."
Earle said the government could have lessened the blow by announcing upgrades to airport infrastructure along southern Labrador.
However, there was no money allocated to improve infrastructure.
"What we got yesterday was a new $40 fee, the same primitive infrastructure and no changes."
Earle said the company will now go into discussions to iron out how its going to handle the financial hit.
The new charge will begin on Sept. 1.