'Hard-nosed' approach is urged over airport fly fee

The airport's new chief executive has confirmed that he will press ahead with the new "kiss and fly" levy, despite more than 5000 people signing a petition against it.

Now Councillor Charles Dundas, a Lib Dem member of the ruling administration, has called for the council to take more of a hard line with airport operator BAA.

Mr Dundas said it was time the airport was treated the same as "every other company in the city", with the rules changed to mean that any developer contributions were fixed rather than voluntary.

He said: "The airport is able to build anything it likes on the airport site without going through normal planning permission.

"The new departure lounge, for example, did not require planning permission, so we weren't able to attach any Section 75 agreement that they would contribute to road improvements and that sort of thing.

"The airport is now being more commercially hard-nosed, charging a drop-off fee. I feel there's a value in the council being more hard-nosed and treating the airport as we would treat any other big company around the city."

He added: "The airport brings millions of people into Edinburgh, but the infrastructure such as roads and public transport needs significant investment from us. I would be more comfortable if it (developer contributions) was a little more guaranteed, treating the airport the same as every other company in the city."

A motion put forward by Cllr Dundas is set to be discussed by next week's council meeting. It calls for a report to assess how best "to ensure Edinburgh Airport meets an appropriate share of the costs" for public transport.

A spokesman for Edinburgh Airport said: "We look forward to discussing these matters with the council. We already make a huge contribution to Edinburgh's transport infrastructure through a capital investment programme worth around 120 million between 2008 and 2011."In addition, we have spent over 560,000 from our Public Transport Levy on promoting and facilitating public transport to the airport, beating our targets by currently having 28.9 per cent of passengers accessing Edinburgh Airport by bus."

He added: "Any additional costs will potentially make Edinburgh Airport less competitive, undermining many of the exciting new destinations that are available direct from Scotland's capital."

Earlier this week the city's transport convener, Cllr Gordon Mackenzie, said there had been "understanding" shown for BAA's introduction of the drop-off fee.

He added: "The airport's continuing development and success inevitably create a considerable strain on the local transport infrastructure, so I welcome the motion as it will help to move the debate on to the contribution the airport can make to meeting that challenge."