QNH 1013
Fair comment(s), I can see your point of view but I think at the end of the day it all boils down to cash....nobody in any walk of life wants to give anything away for free these days!
My point of view is based on airfields such as Gloucester, Biggin Hill, Redhill, Shoreham, Cranfield, Oxford etc. all of whom are pretty much GA only (but all with full ATC incidently). It's these sort of airfields who are actively encouraging GA these days, while the rest of the regionals encourage you to bugger off so they can squeeze another 757 with 200 bucket-and-spaders in!
Your PFA type landing fee will only cost you a tenner at my place, you'll be cleared to land (by ATC) on any one of our six runways and we can sell you fuel, oil, hangarage and a number of other services. We'll order you a taxi, sort out a hotel or hire car, tell you where the good restaurants are, give you all the met. and NOTAMS you need at no extra cost and what's more we'll greet you with a smile!....Why the five star service?...because you are a customer and without your business we'd be unemployed! We need your support because if the books don't balance, we'll close and the whole place will become a housing estate faster than you can say Green Belt!
An retired colleague of mine once described it jokingly as "Five star service for two star aeroplanes"...he wasn't far from the truth!
Puffin Killer
I don't think the Airline Group will have much influence on landing fees as they are really just a service provider to the Airport operators where they provide ATC...ie all the majors and Luton, Cardiff, Southampton and some others. I think the real problem for GA will be access to the airspace around these airfields but thats another thread.
Hopefully we're still some way away from
"G-ABCD, pass your message and credit card details"