I would like to find out the approximate rate for landing rights on London
Stansted and Barcelona. Aircraft type: 1980 Boeing 737-200Adv
London Stansted arriving 10.00am and departing 11.00 am (app.) and
(2nd arrival) arriving 8.00pm and departing 9.00pm
Barcelona arriving 3.00pm and departing 4.00pm

---

Request for Question Clarification by byrd-ga on 22 Apr 2004 17:01 PDT

Dear Kees,

What an interesting and challenging question this has become. Your
rather straightforward-seeming question has turned out on
investigation to be far more complex and multi-faceted than it first
appeared. While I am still waiting on some information, I wanted to
let you know that your question is being worked on, and I believe I
will be able to have an answer for you within the next day or so.

As I said, the question is more complicated than it seems, and as I
have learned, landing fees are just the beginning of the costs of
operating into and out of most European airports, including the two
you?ve requested information on. Since such airports (including these
two) are, for the most part, privately owned and operated, unlike in
the U.S. where often airports are owned/operated by cities or other
public agencies, fees can and do vary widely and are collected by
different entities. Handling agents, or Fixed Base Operators (FBOs as
we call them in the States) are the most apparent.  Fees include not
only landing (or runway) fees, but passenger, transfer, parking and
others, including navigation fees.

I have ascertained an approximation of the various fees you?re looking
for from one handling agent at London Stansted, but am awaiting
permission to post the information since the communication I received
was marked ?confidential? and I need to obtain permission to post it
in order to comply with Google?s policy on copyright and private
materials. Since I?m based in the U.S. there?s a bit of a time
difference to deal with in communications.

In addition, I am awaiting a response to several inquiries made with
regard to similar information at Barcelona, but so far have not
received one.

Also if I do not get satisfactory results from these queries, I did
also receive one other reply from a different source, telling me that
the person who could help me would be out of the office until next
week, but that if I could wait a few days, I could likely get the
information I needed from that person.

So ? in the meantime, I have a few questions to ask you in order to
clarify things a bit:

1)If I am only able to obtain the specific fees information for
Stansted, would you like the opportunity to reprice your question in
order to accept that as answer, or perhaps to expire this question,
and post another question just for Stansted?

2)If I do not receive permission to use the figures I have, but I do
receive permission to post the specific contact information, would you
find that acceptable as an answer?

3)Should I be unable to get satisfactory information from these
sources, would you like me to wait until next week to try to get it
from the other source who is currently out, and if that also proves
unsatisfactory ...

4)Would you like as an answer instead such public contact information
as I was able to locate for handling agents at both airports?

In addition, 

5)Not that it necessarily matters, but just in case it becomes an
issue, is this aircraft of U.S. or European registry? If European,
which country? Will it be based in the country in which it is
registered? If so, at which airport? Also, will the aircraft be
operated as a private/charter or as a regularly scheduled air carrier
operation?

6)And finally, if there is a choice, would you prefer to receive
monetary values in Euros, Pounds or Dollars? If no choice, do you
have, or would you like a currency converter?

Thank you for your clarification, and please note that you can post a
clarification even while the question is locked. I?m very much looking
forward to completing this question, and have high hopes I will be
able to successfully locate all the information you require.

Best regards,
Byrd-ga

---

Clarification of Question by kees-ga on 23 Apr 2004 03:17 PDT

Hello Byrd-ga

An interesting and challenging question indeed!
I am already busy for some time finding out this information ad have
good hopes that you will do the job for me.
You can send the confidential information directly to my mail indeed,
this would be very acceptable.
my email is: kees (at) hotels (dot) nl

I have no problems with waiting an other week when the information is correct.

clarifications:

1. If you only get Stansted for me that would be a bit disappointing
but i would certainly honor that as a good (partial answer)

2. If they provide me with the correct information, jep.

3. no problems waiting.

4. No, this is information that i can also find within a minute, the
problem is that i need someone that knows exact offilicial figures
from the airport (handling agents often don't know this).

5. EU registry - NL - no charter.

6. the currency for the answer can be any acceptable currency there is!

Kees.

Hello Kees,

Thank you very much for your clarification.  It is most helpful and
appreciated.  First of all please allow me to state that I am unable
to contact you via your private email due to Google Answers? Terms of
Service, which prohibit private contact off this service between
Researchers and customers.  See Question #4 under the section entitled
?Your Privacy,? here
http://answers.google.com/answers/faq.html#showemail 
 
But really I don?t think it matters because I believe I can provide
you here with information that will answer your question.  Although I
am still awaiting replies to several emails, I think I have enough
information at present to provide you with the approximation of fees
you requested for both London Stansted and Barcelona Airports, and
will add additional information as/if I receive it.

I have also gathered some other supplemental information about
aircraft operations and costs in Europe in general in hopes it may
prove useful to you as you prepare to undertake flight operations,
which I will post subsequent to the information about fees.

******************************************************************************

All right then, on to the specific information you requested: 

========================
London Stansted Airport 
========================

Stansted Airport is owned and operated by British Aviation Authority
(BAA), which owns and operates a number of airports throughout the UK.
 I have an email out to BAA contact addresses that I found on a Boeing
page for noise abatement procedures at Stansted
( http://www.boeing.com/commercial/noise/stansted.html ), but have as
yet received no reply.
As with other outstanding information requests, when/if I receive a
reply, I will post the information here in a clarification.

In the meantime BAA?s main website is here: http://www.baa.com , the
page pertaining specifically to Stansted here:
http://www.baa.com/main/airports/stansted/ , and the page with contact
information, including telephone numbers, here:
http://www.baa.com/main/corporate/contact_us_frame.html 

As I?m sure you can appreciate, it was not feasible for me to
undertake the cost of transatlantic telephone charges in connection
with researching this question, but you may wish to keep this
information for your own reference.

===========================================================================

In addition to BAA, there are several handling agents operating at
Stansted Airport, including Harrod?s Aviation (formerly known as Metro
Business Aviation) and Universal Aviation.  I could not locate an
email address for Harrod?s, but their website is here if you?d like to
fill out their form to request information: http://www.metrofbo.com/ 
(Click on ?contact me? on the left hand side to bring up a form for
submitting an inquiry.)

It was the manager of Universal Aviation who was kind enough to
respond to my inquiry with a quote specifically for your type aircraft
and with a detailed list of charges.  However, as I said, this quote
was marked confidential, and so I replied with a request for
permission to post the information here for you.  This is what Mr.
Hayward, the supervisor who replied, said:

?We would rather you not publish the handling charge at the top of the
quote as this is ... confidential, your client is however more than
welcome to call or e-mail us direct at which we would be happy to give
him the handling charges.  Feel free however to publish the rest of
charges which are the standard airport charges for a B737-200 arriving
at Stansted ....?

Jason Hayward
Operations Supervisor
Universal Aviation UK Ltd  
Tel.  +44 1279 680349
Fax   +44 1279 680372
Email  jhayward@univ-wea.com

Therefore, here are the fees which I do have permission to post (all
are in GBP Sterling):

     Navigation Fee: £66.25
     Landing Fee: £202.50
     Parking: £39.24 per hour

The abovementioned handling fees include: 

     Passenger and aircraft handling
     Transport to/from aircraft
     Baggage unload/loading
     Steps/chocks
     Liaison w/all airport companies
     Customs
     Immigration
     Fuel liaison
     Catering, etc. 

Ground Equipment Charges:

     GPU:  £100.00 per hour or part thereof
     Lavatory Service: £27.55 per operation
     Potable water: £22.05 per operation
     Aircraft towing/pushback: £100.00 per operation

In addition, there is a statement at the beginning of the quote that a
surcharge of 25% will apply for handling between 2200 hours and 0700
hours local, and there will be an admin fee of 15% on 3rd party
charges.  The document states that these charges are valid through
June 30, 2004.

******************************************************************************

===================
BARCELONA AIRPORT
===================

Aviation in Spain follows a similar pattern as the UK and the rest of
Europe, in that governmental agencies formulate the laws governing
airport and aviation operations, while privately owned companies
actually own and operate the airports.  One of the largest of these is
Aena, which owns and operates the Barcelona Airport.

A visit to their website, here: 
http://194.224.177.158/csee/Satellite?pagename=Comercial/Home_Comercial&lang=EN_GB
and scrolling down a bit yields a link on the right hand side under
the heading of ?CHARGES? for a pdf file of a manual entitled ?Schedule
of Charges: Spanish Airports and Air Navigation 2004.?  Here is a
direct link to the file:
http://194.224.177.158/csee/ccurl/tarifas_aena_2004_en.pdf  

*Note that you?ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this document and
others referenced below.  If you don?t already have it, you can
download it free, here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

In this case, the fees are not so clearly spelled out as in the quote
received from Universal Aviation at Stansted above.  However, please
scroll through the document and you will find it contains very
detailed and explicit formulas that may be used to calculate the
various charges, including landing fees, terminal fees, passenger and
navigation fees and others for Barcelona Airport (among others) and
where applicable, to a particular class of aircraft, i.e. a B-737-200.
 These formulas begin on page 8, while preceding pages enumerate and
give the legal basis for the various charges.

For example, using the tables and formulas given, you can determine
the landing fee for an aircraft with a weight of between 10 and 100
tons (which class I believe includes the B-737-200), originating at an
airport within the European Economic Area, and landing at a 1st Class
airport in Spain (which Barcelona is ? in a different table), would
incur a landing fee of ?.5,33 Euros.

Do bear in mind the disclaimer in this document, however, that rates
and charges may change and those printed may not at any given time
necessarily be the most accurate.  However, names, addresses and
contact numbers are given, so it seems a prudent course to make use of
these to determine the most recent figures prior to undertaking any
specific operations.   This would have to be done in any case, as
Spanish law require the filing of the ?Statistical Form of Air
Transit? (see bottom of page four) as well as the usual flight plans
and other navigational requirements.

******************************************************************************

Now, as to supplemental information, it occurred to me that although
you?re almost certainly familiar with basic aviation operations in
Europe, a brief overview of the infrastructure of European aviation,
together with appropriate links, may nevertheless prove helpful to
you.

At the top is the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO): 
http://www.icao.int/  

ICAO operates under the auspices of the United Nations, and has
oversight and regulatory powers with regard to all member nations and
states, including UK and Spain (and Netherlands). Members have agreed
to abide by the recommendations of ICAO with regard to establishing
laws and regulations under which their respective aviation authorities
operate, although ICAO does not have enforcement powers, and members
can deviate as long as they provide documentation and a reasonable
rationale for doing so.

Then under ICAO are several Europe-wide organizations, including: 

-- The European Joint Aviation Authorities (JAA ? headquartered in
Netherlands): http://www.jaa.nl/

-- The European Civil Aviation Conference(ECAC): 
http://www.ecac-ceac.org/uk/  

-- and the newest organization, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA): 
http://www.easa.eu.int/ 

Under these are the civil authorities in each country, in this case: 

-- The Civil Aviation Authority in the UK (CAA): 
http://www.caa.co.uk/index.asp  

-- and the Aviacion Civil de España or Civil Aviation of Spain
authority.  Note that their website is in Spanish:
http://www.mfom.es/aviacioncivil/top_aviacioncivil.html 

Under these regulatory and advisory entities come various commercial
agencies, chief of which is

--Airports Council International (ACI) Europe:
http://www.aci-europe.org , the agency that oversees 90% of airport
operations in Europe, including operations at both London Stansted and
Barcelona airports.

This linked document is dated May 2003 and is entitled ?Airport
Charges in Europe.?  As the title implies, it discusses the nature and
detail of airport charges, types of charges, and includes some very
good tables that give a graphic representation of what exactly is
charged where.  As you?ll see, both Stansted and Barcelona include a
variety of fees, including landing, passenger, transfer, parking and
?other,? which include navigation and security charges, among others:
http://www.aci-europe.org/upload/Airport%20charges%20in%20Europe%20study%20_8.5.03_.pdf

******************************************************************************

In addition, you might want to read the following article, which also
contains some very good general information:

?Sticker Shock: The High Cost of Operating in Europe,? is an article
from June of last year,  published on the website of the U.S. based
National Association of Air Traffic Specialists (NAATA).  Although
written from the perspective of someone familiar with U.S. aviation
matters, it nevertheless gives a very good overall look at how the
European aviation/airspace system operates, along with a good listing
and overview of the various multitude of fees one might expect to
encounter:
http://www.naats.org/a76/euronav.htm 

******************************************************************************

I would also suggest you consider subscribing to an IFR manual
service, such as the ones featured here:
http://shop.pilotwarehouse.co.uk/dosearch , here: 
http://www.flightstore.co.uk/category/use.dept.119.dept_l2.228.dept_l3.0/  
or here: 
http://www.jeppesen.com/wlcs/application/commercewf?origin=itemsummary.jsp&event=link(details)&wlcs_catalog_item_sku=ERMJD-20&wlcs_catalog_category_id=CNS1A2A&wlcs_document_type=details

Such services provide continually updated and current information on
various aspects of air navigation, but also on airports, i.e. hours of
operation, telephone numbers, postal addresses, requirements, etc.,
which can prove useful to you in terms of contact and other
information.

******************************************************************************

**One other resource, which could prove exceptionally helpful, is the
International Air Transport Association?s (IATA) ( http://www.iata.org
) ?AIRPORT AND AIR NAVIGATION CHARGES MANUAL 2004,? which members may
purchase in print (all 600 pages), on CD or by web download for a fee.

This ?is a comprehensive, accurate reference document that details
current user charges imposed worldwide on airlines by airports, air
navigation services providers and civil aviation authorities. User
charges include those levied for landing, passenger services, parking,
terminal navigation, noise, security, en route navigation and other
applicable services. Updates are issued very regularly as changes
occur. ?  See more details, here:
http://www.iata.org/aancm/index  

However, there may be a slight problem here for you, since as far as
I?ve been able to ascertain, this reference is only available to IATA
members, and only airlines may become members.  There is a lesser
class of membership also available to parties which supply the airline
industry, but unless you are in one of those businesses you may not
qualify, which of course means you will not be able to purchase the
manual, at least not directly.  But I wanted you to be aware of this
resource.  Also, I?ve sent an email to the contact person listed, and
hope to receive a favorable reply.  Favorable or otherwise, I will
post a clarification here as soon as I receive any reply.
Additionally, you may wish to contact IATA yourself  with regard to
this publication.

The specific contact information regarding IATA and this manual is:

Darline Janssens 
Assistant Manager, User Charges
E-mail: janssensd@iata.org 
Fax: +41-22-770-2689

******************************************************************************

In summary, this has been a very challenging, at times frustrating,
but overall immensely interesting hunt, but I?m quite happy in the end
about what I?ve been able to find.  I hope you?ll agree, and that the
information provided will be of use to you.

Should anything remain unclear, or you?re dissatisfied in any way,
please do use the ?Request Clarification? feature to ask before rating
and closing this question, so I might have the opportunity to ensure
you?re happy with the information and have obtained what you need. 
I?m willing to work with you to the extent needed to satisfy your
query.

Also, please allow me to repeat that I do have several emails still
out on this topic, and as soon as I receive any replies I will be sure
to post that additional information here in a clarification(s) as
necessary.

One other thing - hard as we try to ensure all links post and work
correctly, sometimes they just don't come out right.  If any links
aren't immediately clickable, they should work all right if you just
copy/paste them into your browser.  If not, please let me know, and I
can repost them.

Kindest regards,
Byrd-ga

******************************************************************************

Search strategy:

I began with my own knowledge of aviation (both as a general aviation
pilot here in the US, as well as by interest and previous research),
combined with my personal collection of bookmarks for aviation-related
sites, including for ICAO, IAOPA, JAA, ECAC and so forth.  From there
it was a matter of doing some further searching using the following
terms:

"landing fees" "london stansted" OR "barcelona airport"
"flight planning" "landing fees" "london stansted" OR "barcelona airport"
"airport charges" "london stansted"
IFR europe flight guides OR manuals 
Europe "navigation fees" OR "landing fees" OR "runway fees" 
landing rates" "london stansted" OR "barcelona airport"
"cost of flying" europe OR UK OR Spain
"airport charges" "london stansted" barcelona 
Europe "navigation fees" OR "landing fees" 

******************************************************************************

Then based on information found in the results of these searches, as
well as contact information found in the previously mentioned sites, I
followed additional links, and sent numerous emails soliciting
assistance in finding this information from various parties, as well
as posted the question on several aviation discussion boards.

One of the most helpful responses was from a pilot on the Pilot Web  site ( 
http://www.pilotweb.co.uk ) who flies out of Stantsted, and who passed
on contact information for both Metro (Harrod?s) and Universal.  By
following up on that I ultimately received the quote from Universal
for Stansted fees.   For your information, here is what he posted,
including telephone numbers that I was not able to use, but you might
find helpful:

Airport operator BAA tel +1441279680500 

If you want a handling agent try 

Metro Business Aviation T +1441279680167  (this is the same as Harrod?s)  
Corporate / VIP handling T +1441279665337 
SITA STNURBA 

Or 

Universal Aviation (UK) Ltd T+1441279680349 
Corporate / VIP handling As Above 
SITA LONOOUV 
EMAIL uk@uvglobalnetwork.com 

Universal in Spain are at spain@uvglobalnetwork.com 

******************************************************************************

---

Clarification of Answer by byrd-ga on 26 Apr 2004 05:12 PDT

Hello Kees,

Thank you very much for the five-star rating and kind words.  I'm so
happy you were pleased with the answer!

This morning I have received word from Darline Janssens, Assistant
Manager at IATA, with additional information about the Airport and Air
Navigation Charges Manual, and so am passing it along to you as
promised.

She states that the manual covers: ?... all aeronautical charges
(landing, lighting, aircraft parking, passenger service, terminal
navigation, noise and en route charges) for most major international
authorities world-wide. Other charges such as boarding bridge, fuel
and cargo charges are included as available. Handling charges and
rentals are generally not covered. It lists more than 345 airports!"

In addition, the explanation of what the charges include, is that "it
is an on-going subscription service, with 5-7 amendments per year for
locations where charges have changed, and is available on CD-ROM or
hardcopy (printed in a loose-leaf binder) or as web downloadable
(updated twice a month on average)."

She goes on to explain that the revisions include only the updated
pages for the printed version, while the manual is completely replaced
in full on the CD and on the web site.

As to costs, "... the annual subscription fee is USD 640.00 (USD
350.00 for Iata Airline Members) for the first subscription within a
company, and USD 350.00 per additional subscription within the same
company. There is no difference in price between the printed manual,
web or CD-ROM, but an additional USD 25.00 shipping cost is once a
year charged for the printed manual." So yes, it IS available to
non-members -- at nearly twice the charge!

Also, "a one-time purchase of the CD-ROM -or two months access to the
web site- costs USD 350.00."

She asks that you please note that IATA requires prepayment, which can
be done by either/any of these methods: cheque, credit card, bank
transfer, or thru IATA Clearing House.

The address to send your order/payment is: 

International Air Transport Association
IATA Centre
Route de l'Aeroport 33
P.O.Box 416
CH-1215 Geneva 15 Airport
Switzerland

Here was also included bank account numbers and routing information,
but I don't believe it appropriate to publish those here in a public
forum such as this, and so ask that you contact Ms. Janssens for those
if you wish to pay by bank transfer. In any case the information was
specifically for someone paying in US dollars, so you may need to
contact her in any case for specific details for other currency. She
was very good about replying, so I'm sure there will be no difficulty
there. You might want to let her know where you received the
information, as I replied to her that she might expect to hear from
you.

She also emphasized that if you did place an order you will need to
"please give your full mailing address and contact details. Once the
payment is received we will then send you the manual or CD-ROM or your
web user id and password, together with a payment prove."

And she also gave the same contact information for herself that I gave
you above, with an additional telephone number, so I'll repost it
here:

Darline Janssens
Asst. Mgr., User Charges, Geneva
Tel.: +41 22 770 27 41
Fax : +41 22 770 26 89
E-mail : janssensd@iata.org

Although rather expensive, this manual certainly sounds like exactly
what you need, so if you decide to get it, I hope the transaction will
go smoothly.  As before, if I hear anything else from my various
inquiries, I will post them.

Also, should I receive any other information in response to the
various queries I sent out last week, I will also post them here. 
Thank you again for the opportunity to be of service!

Best regards,
Byrd-ga

Great answer, thanks a lot!