|
|
Airport gets peak fee exemption
Sally Rose
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN — Town officials, the tourism industry, the local airline and Provincetown-Boston air commuters all may breathe a sigh of relief since the town received news last week that MassPort had approved the town’s request for an exemption from peak use surcharges for the local airport.
The peak pricing regulation, which enables MassPort to charge a fee of $150 per flight (versus the former $25), was instituted recently at Logan Airport as part of a demand management proposal mandated when the Federal Aviation Administration approved a permit for Logan to build its 5,000-foot sixth runway. The runway is to be used primarily by regional jets and smaller airlines when winds of 10 knots or stronger are blowing from the northwest; the airport has long been plagued with delays during northwest winds. MassPort, the entity that runs Logan Airport, went through an often contentious, eight-year state and federal permitting process to garner approval to build the new runway.
The special circumstances exemption, in effect for five years, is for communities that have had scheduled airline service on a year-round basis for three of the last five years, can show that Logan is their only access to national air transportation and that significant adverse impact would occur if peak-hour pricing were in effect.
Town leaders and Cape Air officials waged a concerted effort, getting help from the Cape’s congressional delegation, to gain the “special circumstances” exemption from peak hour fees for Provincetown Municipal Airport.
“We’re ecstatic,” said Michelle Haynes of Cape Air. “This goes back a decade ... when they first started talking about a new runway.”
She added that the exemption never would have been granted without “the intervention and support” of Town Manager Keith Bergman. “He really pushed for this and never let up, and certainly Congressman Bill Delahunt, Sen. John Kerry and Sen. Ted Kennedy. They did a lot for us too.”
Haynes also credited Provincetown residents and business leaders who ventured up to Hyannis in mid-winter for a MassPort hearing.
According to Cape Air officials, the higher per-flight fee threatened to put the airline, which flies nine-seater Cessna 402s and is the only commercial commuter airline serving the Outer Cape, in a financially untenable position.
Hyannis, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket airports are exempted from peak hour fees through their “Essential Air Service” designation, determined in 1978 by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation. Provincetown never received such a designation — it’s unclear why, whether it was a decision of the former Provincetown-Boston Airlines or of the FAA at the time. And no new EAS designations are being assigned.
Provincetown Airport is the site of one of the first commuter routes in the country.
srose@provincetownbanner.com
|
Swim raises $150,000 for AIDS, women’s health & youth
In the News
|
|
|
|
|
Sep 15th, 2005