Most expensive GA airfields
 

Barton Airfield Manchester is now charging £18.80 Landing fee and £18.80 per hour or part of to operate on the extremely small helicopter training area.

I occassionally operate on Barton so im not really effected but the home schools are faced with costs £37.60 per hour / or part of.

They are obviously anti helicopter they have also now decided to charge landing fees to all helicopter club members (previously free included in the club subscription of around £200 per year)

At the risk of sounding offensive....what price does it have to go to to kill off all flying at that location? Where is the nearest alternative and how much do they charge?

If the helicopters move out of that site due to costs.....how will they replace that revenue?

What is the break point at which the authorities/airports price themselves out of business?

Who loses when that happens?

Now all you UK CAA/JAA advocates tell me what a grand system you have in the UK....convince me you have a system that will not kill the Golden Goose.

Anyone care to try?

The link takes you to a site that describes my home town airport.....note....no airline operations at the airport, tower open most of the day, airport open 24 hours per day, Instrument approaches, fuel 24hrs per day, pilot controlled runway lighting, no telephone booking required, and NO FEES for the use of the airport, nav facilities, ATC, or Airways.

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KINT

I believe Earls Colne charge something crazy for helicopters like £30- £40 just as a landing fee!

A £20 landing fee is no longer uncommon!

MADY

Fees
 

Those look like bargains to me.

Try EHRD, EHAM, LFTZ....


d3

Ok joe bloggs turns up in his jet ranger hit him for twenty quid no problem he will have paid more than that before.

But start hitting the flying school who is up and down all day, trial lessons etc and he soon be out of business in an extremely competitive business

Hopefully he go owing the airfield a fortune (in fuel as well)

SASless. Nice link. :ok:

I wish they had advertising and info like that Downunder. I know that we can get some info from the net, but that sets a great standard!

2 years ago dropped an Irish rally driver off at Bristol after The GB world rally round the landing fee was £ 65 plus £ 30 handling fee and I had to show the guy doing the handling how to operate the bowser. I wont tell you what the pax said but went someting like !!!!, its cheaper to fly across The Irish Sea than land at this !!!!!!! airport !
I was only flying a Gazelle !

Thanks SASless. All that for free and Avgas at 54p a litre. No wonder we are being priced out of existence here.

Strewth.

Muffin,

Consider the concept of not having to Book In or Book Out for a starter.

Consider the airports remain open 24 hours per day.

Consider the airport lighting is Pilot Controlled after the Control Towers close.

Cost alone will kill aviation but also the lack of access to facilities on a 24 hour basis as well.

Ours is not a perfect system by far.....but it sure by golly beats the UK system hands down. Anyone that argues otherwise is at risk of drowning in a drizzle in my view.

I used to regularly go into Barton....NEVER now !! The whole place is a rip off and they oviously dont want our business. I tried to open an account there for fuel ....12 months later gave up. However Leeds Bradford at Multiflight is BRILLIANT you get a cup of coffee , cheap fuel and no landing fees !!!:ok: :ok: We are in the UK still in the dark ages where you "pop" in for fuel and half an hour later still walking to the tower to pay the landing fee. ( no no no ...you cant pay them together...that would be far too easy !!)
Just pick the good fields and let the rest rot and then build houses on them ??:ok: maybe planning permission would be easier if the airfield failed and there were then no jobs........i can see that maybe its a great idea to price everybody out to get to the big money !!!:ok:

I have to say that I rarely visit airfields now. I have a bowser at home for fuel and try to land away at a hotel, a farm, a pub or anywhere but an airfield. If I do have to use an airfield, I try to find a farm strip if possible. I also fly planks, but I can't remember the last time I went anywhere that had full ATC.

Perhaps if we all boycott them wherever possible the ridiculous landing fees may eventually come down. Just maybe?

weve all had horror storys about high landing charges when fueling so where is it cheaper ?

heres one does anyone know any others ?

Breighton airfield north yorkshire Near selby free landing when refueling ask for brian he runs the place jet a1 and avgas

steve

If you are ever in Yorkshire try Elvington. I was in there this week. Limited facilities, but cheap fuel, (I thought I had mis-heard the price) and a really nice welcome from a true enthusiast for his job.

What grips me are the hotels who charge a £100 landing fee. You arrive with the customers who are about to spend a shed load of cash and then hit them for a fee for landing. My response to this now is "for that kind of fee I expect a licensed concrete pad with no obstructions, full fire cover, fuel and uniformed dollies to handle the pax and mop my overworked brow. Not the hotel lawn surrounded by trees and measured by an optimist with several knots in his tape measure."

One hotel manager recently presented me with a bill for landing 6 guests on his lawn. The bill was £2 more than a landing at Battersea. The guests were staying there for a week and their final bill was thousands. It seems that certain hotel owners have decided that this is a neat way to pay for the illegals washing the dishes:E

VH

how much was the fuel at elvington?

MD600 Driver;

Sorry for the delay. The fuel at Elvington was 41p per litre. Like I said cheap.

VH:ok:

I think Bagby is cheap as well and they don't charge any landing fee for fuel uplift over a certain amount.

Exeter Council International is by far the most expensive place I have had the "pleasure" to overnight at. It costs us more than Heathrow! There was a high mandatory handling fee, which as far as I could see, paid only for a ground crew who delayed our start by being late coming to the aircraft and then sauntering out with hands in pockets, stood without a fire extinguisher, hands still in pockets and then bu&&ered off before we had started the second engine. :rolleyes:

That was last year, so I'm sure they have improved by now - but the prices won't have...

ShyTorque;

Exeter haven't improved. I had exactly the same treatment recently whilst parked at the slum end of the airfield. Plymouth are good, but distinctly wallet lightening.

I did go to Gatwick this week and I take back my comments from a previous thread. Turn round was fast and air traffic got me away very quickly from the Charlie taxiway with no queueing at the hold.

Also went to Lydd this week. Excellent service and landing and take off clearance from the Bravo apron. Fuel was average price but I will happily use Lydd again:ok:

i flew into malaga last weekend handling 15 euros landing 12 euros in a gazelle fuel cheap too

Copenhagen, Bell 407, 154 Euros.