Police want passengers to pay for security costs at UK airports
01.08.07
Police chief constables have called for 'security surcharges' to be added to flight tickets at dozens of UK airports. Most UK airports do not pay a penny towards police operations at their terminals, but police chief's say that they should not be forced to subsidise the private companies operating many of these airports, and are calling for a surcharge on tickets to fund the increasing cost of their patrols.
Only nine airports including Heathrow and Gatwick are required by law to pay towards policing and are allowed to pass the costs on to the airlines, which in turn pass the charge on to passengers via higher ticket prices.
The UK's other airports, including some that have boomed with the tourist industry and pride themselves on being cheaper than Heathrow or Gatwick, are not required to pay for policing. Instead the cost, which runs to hundreds of millions of pounds across the UK, is borne directly by taxpayers. London City Airport, for example, costs £7 million a year to police, and does not contribute a penny to this cost.
Police chiefs and their authorities argue that the profitable, private companies that operate these airports should pay for the necessary policing of its establishments. However, members of the Airport Operators Association, which run airports outside the nine, say they are locked into contracts with carriers that mean they would not be able to pass on any increased cost in the short term.
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