FC-L airport assesses surcharge for commercial flights

LOVELAND – The Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal Airport has instituted a $4.50 surcharge for commercial passengers at the airport, a move that’s intended to raise funds for specific airport improvements.
Called a passenger facility charge, the airport began adding the fee to commercial tickets Aug. 1. The program is designed to collect $75,000 to cover a ramp-replacement project that was finished earlier this year, and to fund an ongoing master plan update for the airport.
Airport officials expect to reach the $75,000 goal by March 2005, based on the pace of tickets sold by Allegiant Air, the only scheduled commercial service at the airport.
Allegiant operates five flights a week between FC-L and Las Vegas.
Don’t expect the surcharge to cease anytime soon. Airport officials have already filed an application with the Federal Aviation Administration to continue the $4.50 fee as soon as the first $75,000 goal is reached. In the new application, the airport outlined improvement projects that require $300,000.
“The new application will probably take about two and half years to collect,´ said Dave Gordon, airport manager.
Under terms of the new application, the $300,000 in funds will reimburse the airport for previous runway repairs, and pay for a new runway-resurfacing project, which includes new lighting controls for the runway’s taxiway lights.
Passenger facility charges are a common source of revenue for airports, which are allowed to charge a maximum of $4.50 per commercial passenger. The money is collected by the ticketing airline, then turned over to the airport.
FC-L operated without passenger service from 1997 until Allegiant launched in July 2003.
“It’s a great way for generating revenues to make the airport improvements to accommodate these kinds of flights,” Gordon said.
Revenue from the passenger facility charges is in addition to FC-L’s expectation of a $1 million grant from the FAA, which is due Oct.1. The local airport qualified for the goal because it registered at least 10,000 commercial passengers during 2003.
FC-L has also qualified for the $1 million grant again next year, already surpassing 10,000 enplanements so far this year.
“We’ve not yet decided where to spend that money,” Gordon said. “We’re waiting for our master plan to help us develop capital improvement programs.”
While plans are still in the works, Gordon has acknowledged that the airport needs a larger fire truck, expanded passenger parking and a larger terminal.
The master-plan process, which would outline the airport’s development scenario for the next 20 years, recently achieved its first milestone.
Consultants have posted flight and passenger projections for the airport. Based on the continuing operation of Allegiant, and the expectation that Allegiant would add other markets besides Las Vegas, passenger traffic would triple by 2023. Projections for this year call for 32,863 passengers. The forecast predicts 111,721 annual passengers by 2023.
Under a second scenario, which accounts for a second airline operating at FC-L, the passenger count would grow to 187,226 by 2023. A third scenario, allowing for no regular commercial service, predicts 1,717 passengers per year – coming from commercial charters.
The consultants for the master-plan update, Barnard, Dunkelberg & Co., have recommended the first scenario as the most likely projection. On that basis, the number of scheduled departures would increase from 286 this year to 920 in 2023.
The recommended forecast for general aviation – takeoffs and landings of private planes – calls for growth from 120,500 operations this year to 177,160 in 2023.
The next installment of the master plan update is scheduled for presentation in November, Gordon said.
“That’s when we’ll get into alternatives for development in the future,” he said. “That’s when things get a little more fun.”

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