--- In BATN@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "5/28 E. Bay Business Times" <batn@xxxx> wrote: Published Friday, May 28, 2004, in the East Bay Business Times Oakland airport won't follow SFO fee cuts By David Goll Oakland International, one of the nation's fastest-growing airports, is raising its airline fees, even though rival San Francisco International Airport is slashing its charges to carriers. The Oakland airport, however, will remain a considerable bargain. It now charges airlines an average of just $3.98 per passenger for landing and rental fees. And its new rates for 2005 will average just $5.05 per passenger, Philip La Scola, a Port of Oakland finance official, said. The San Francisco airport, on the other hand, is trying to make its fees more attractive to the cash-strapped airlines that make up much of its business. Now charging an average $17.23 per passenger, it will drop its 2004-05 rate to $15.71, starting July 1. The Bay Area's other major airport, San Jose International, charges airlines $5.01 per passenger. The Oakland airport has enacted only small annual increases in recent years. "Good for them that they are decreasing their rates, but (SFO) still can't come anywhere near what we are charging," Oakland airport spokeswoman Rosemary Barnes said. "Southwest and JetBlue are in Oakland because it's such an inexpensive airport to operate in, and that has made us a very successful airport." Oakland's landing fees of $1.21 per 1,000 pounds of landed weight (passengers), are well below SFO's current rate of $3.90. It raised its per passenger rate for landing and rentals by 26 cents for 2003-04. With SFO's dominant carrier being troubled United Airlines, the San Francisco airport has seen its passenger traffic tumble from the peak of more than 40 million a year since the terrorist attacks and economic downturn of 2001. Its 2003 total of 29.3 million passengers was 6.8 percent fewer than it had in 2002. But while the airlines' cost of doing business in Oakland will rise slightly, travelers using the East Bay's major air hub this summer will get the best price possible for parking -- free. This week, a privately run, 2,400-space parking lot located about a mile from the terminal buildings started offering free parking and airport transportation through Aug. 31. "The company decided to build this facility for one simple reason, which is the rapid growth of this airport," said Jack Lyness, spokesman for Parking Co. of America Airports LLC, based in Downey. Oakland's increasing business comes mostly from low-fare carriers such as Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways, which have become star performers in the troubled airline industry. The airport had 7.2 percent more passengers in 2003 compared with the year before, hitting a record high of 13.5 million travelers. It was the seventh consecutive year of increasing traffic at Oakland, which now has a 25.6 percent share of the region's market. About 14 million passengers are expected to use the airport this year. The new PCA parking facility is on Pardee Drive, north of Hegenberger Road, which leads directly into the airport. A fleet of 11 bright red buses with seating for 14 people and space for their luggage will ferry airport-bound passengers between the lot and terminal buildings 1.3 miles away. They will follow travelers to parking spaces after they check into the lot, Lyness said, and drivers will load luggage onto the bus. Its normal daily rate will be $9. "Passengers should be at the airport within three and a half minutes, but we advise them to allow at least 15 minutes," he said. PCA, which also has two smaller nearby lots on 98th Avenue, operates parking facilities at some of the nation's busiest airports, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Denver, New York, Newark, N.J., and San Francisco. Barnes said the new PCA facility will provide more competition for off-site parking operators than the airport, which has 8,650 parking spaces, 7,500 of which are extended-stay spots. It should help reduce congestion and ease the parking burden starting in early 2005, when an undetermined number of close-in spots will be lost to construction of a 6,000-space, seven-story parking garage directly across from Terminals One and Two. Hourly airport lots charge $27 for 24 hours, while daily lots have a $20 fee. Both of those are within walking distance of the terminals. Its more distant economy lots, which require taking a bus, cost $17 a day for the first six days, $14 afterwards. Reach Goll at dgoll@xxxx or 925-598-1436. --- End forwarded message ---