Virgin Blue - good points.
Not long ago an Irish carrier tried to force it's handling agents into agreeing to be paid on a per bag loaded basis. Can you imagine trying to staff, provide ground equipment etc. with no guarantee of revenue?
All service compaies on airports suffer from very high rentals. Some of the floor space in UK airports is at the top of the retail rental market, never mind the turnover % that is raked off as well.
Jemy seems to miss one vital point. The arriving passenger does not pay any fees within the UK. Granted the carrier pays for their arrival but the PLS charges are levied on departing passengers only.
The Norwich initiative is up front and needed. Hats off to them for their honesty.
I suppose it comes down to the fact that airports need to raise monies. How they do it will always be contentious in some areas but reality is that they will raise it one way or another. If it's not from car parking it will be somewhere else. At least the car parking charges give people a choice to as to how much they want to pay.