International Departure Fee goes under Queenstown Airport's new landing charges

Queenstown Airport last night (June 26) announced it was removing the $25 International Departure
Fee effective immediately. The change is part of Queenstown Airport’s new landing charges coming
into effect on 1 July.

“Paying a fee on departing Queenstown has long been a frustrating imposition on international
passengers. Removing the fee will greatly improve the experience international passengers have
when leaving the airport,” said Mr Scott Paterson, Chief Executive Officer, Queenstown Airport.

Queenstown Airport has worked with its airline customers over the last 6 months to remove the
international departure fee and finalise the new landing charges.

“Essentially we set out to rebalance and simplify airport charges across passenger types and we’ve
been able to remove several charges and fees, which have previously been separately levied,” said
Mr Paterson.

International passengers are the big winners. In addition to the removal of the $25 International
Departure Fee, airline charges reduce by $1.61 per international passenger. Domestic passengers
will pay slightly more with charges increasing by $0.09 for jet passengers and $1.99 for turboprop
passengers.

“Airport landing charges are reset infrequently and Queenstown Airport's last reset took place in
2004. Arriving at the new landing charges has been a complex demanding process and, working with
airlines, we’ve developed an innovative system for calculating charges. The system will remain in
place for nine years with charges being reset at years three and six to address any differences
between forecast and actual passenger volumes and financing costs. We have also set up an
incentive scheme that will reward airlines for growing passenger numbers. We see this pricing
innovation as prudent and in the best interest of all parties, the traveling public, and the region”, Mr
Paterson said.

Landing charges applying from 1 July 2012 are shown in the table below

Base Aeronautical Charges                                                           Domestic                                 International
                                                                                                    Turboprop           Jet                                 Jet

Charge per arriving and departing passenger                      $6.97            $7.52                            $17.86