Police chiefs call for airports to pay for security costs
01.08.07
Police chief constables have called for 'security surcharges' to be paid by UK airports and added to the cost of flight tickets. They have revealed that most UK airports do not pay a penny towards police operations at their terminals, and say that local taxpayers should not be forced to subsidise the private companies operating many of these airports.
Only 9 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. Even these airports do not pay the full cost of policing their terminals.
Other UK's other airports, including some that have boomed over the last 10 years and pride themselves on being cheaper than Heathrow and Gatwick, are not required to pay for policing. Instead the cost, which runs to hundreds of millions of pounds across the UK, is borne 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 argue that the profitable, private companies that operate these airports should pay for the necessary policing of their terminals. However, members of the Airport Operators Association, which run airports outside the 9, say they are locked into contracts with airlines that mean they would not be able to pass on any increased cost in the short term.
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