Columbia Regional Airport could miss out on thousands due to runway closure
The Columbia Regional Airport could miss out on tens of thousands of dollars due to a week long suspension of flights.
City officials closed Runway 13-31 on Monday in order to fix the “crown” that caused pilots and passengers to feel a bump as they landed. Interim city manager John Glascock said the repairs needed to be made due to safety concerns.
ABC 17 News Investigates took a look at the fees the airport charges and collects for every plane that lands.
The airport gets $4.50 for every passenger using COU, called a Passenger Facility Charge. The Federal Aviation Administration describes the fee as a way for publicly-run airports to collect money for projects aimed at improving safety and capacity.
Airlines are also charged $0.70 known as a joint use fee per commercial passenger for general maintenance and upkeep of the facility, said city spokesman Steve Sapp. Airlines are also billed a police fee of $0.90 per commercial passenger for law enforcement presence onsite. A fuel flowage fee of $0.04 per gallon sold through Columbia Jet Center is also charged, Sapp said.
The city anticipated bringing in $387,980 in PFC fees in fiscal year 2019. By losing a little less than two percent of the year due to the closure, the airport could miss out on $7,371.
That work on Runway 2-20 is what prompted the airport to divert air traffic onto the smaller runway. Crews are expected to fix the pavement on Runway 2-20 for the next several months.
Aircraft owners also pay a fee based on the weight of their aircraft. The city charges 62 cents per 1,000 pounds for companies with a contract and 88 cents for companies without one. Contracts are used for all scheduled air carrier landings, and non-contracts are for every chartered part 121 aircraft that is in excess of 12,500 pounds, Sapp said.
A CRJ 900 jet, which American Airlines uses for its flights to and from Dallas, has a maximum landing weight of 73,500 pounds. United Airlines uses a CRJ 200 for its flights, which manufacturer Bombardier says has a max landing weight of 47,000 pounds.
These fees make up nearly 11 percent of the airport’s budget, according to city budget documents. The city expected to collect $197,201 in landing fees for the fiscal year.
