The Royal Gazette posted an article suggesting opposition to higher airport fees as a result of the proposed new airport.  This writer is no fan of increasing departure taxes further and would like to see ways to cut spending to reduce taxes.  That being said, it is important to consider what the actual fee increase might actually be before standing for or against the project.

Thus, here’s a back of the envelope calculation to try to get an idea of what the costs could be.

A back of the envelope calculation suggests:

250,000,000 (not counting profits, overruns or anything else added on which may or may not be included in the contract)
over 35 years
= 7.14 million a year in fees that will need to be recouped.

Assuming the same level of arrivals as 2014 – 375,000
7.14 million / 375000
= $19

So, at minimum we’ll be adding another $19 in fees

A question posted in response to this calculation was whether this would be over and above the existing $16 airport improvement fee.  This does raise an interesting question.  Does the existing airport really cost $16 per passenger to maintain, approximately $6 million a year?  Are we looking at phasing in the fee for the new airport only once it is complete?  If so, will the actual fee rise we see amount to $3?  What about the other departure taxes levied?  Is it really necessary to maintain those at such an excessive level?

If anyone knows more accurately what we’d be looking at in terms of costs and how we justify them their input is welcome in the comments section.