La Airport Raises Landing Fees 32%

Los Angeles International Airport, which tripled landing fees two years ago to the dismay of airlines, is raising them another 32 percent.

The Board of Airports voted Wednesday to boost fees as of July 1, saying the hike is needed to keep pace with the cost of handling passenger and cargo traffic.

Airlines still are appealing the previous increase to federal regulators.

The commissioners raised the LAX fee from $1.56 to $2.06 per 1,000 pounds gross landing weight. That would raise the cost of landing a Boeing 747 from about $900 to $1,190.

“I can tell you to run LAX last year, it took the department more than $1.56” per 1,000 pounds, Ted Stein, president of the Board of Airport Commissioners, said.

Airports in New York, Honolulu, Detroit and Denver charge between $2.23 and $4.10 per 1,000 pounds, Stein said. Yet LAX is the nation’s fourth-busiest airport for passengers, and its second-busiest for cargo, he said.