The Civil Aviation Authority has announced increases to its levies, fees and charges, following a decision by Cabinet on 18 December 2024. The decision will see passenger safety levies increase from $1.60 to $3.92 per passenger1, domestic passenger security levies from $6.57 to $10.91 per passenger, and international passenger security levies from $13.12 to $22.30 per passenger. Other levies, fees and charges will increase by 10%.
These are the first increases to pricing since 2017 and 2019 for CAA and Aviation Security Service, respectively and are needed to respond to increasing operating costs, ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation and other cost pressures on the Authority. The changes will help to re-establish a sustainable funding model for the Authority and remove its current dependence on Crown funding.
Initial proposals were released for consultation on 27 August 2024. 126 submissions were received, with feedback relaying concerns about the scale of proposed increases, a need to find efficiencies, reduce costs, or find alternative funding sources. Feedback also highlighted the economic challenges facing the aviation sector and shared concerns about the potential impacts that increases may have.
Passenger safety and security levies confirm the preferred options in the proposal document with minor reductions, while the increase to other levies, fees and charges is significantly less than the proposed 43%.
Director of Civil Aviation Keith Manch explained that this reduction is in response to consultation feedback, which suggested that a 43% increase would have a negative impact on the general aviation sector.
“Other levies, fees and charges mostly impact smaller operators who’re feeling economic pressure for a range of reasons,” he said.
“General aviation is a significant contributor to New Zealand’s economy and plays a critical role in our infrastructure, such as emergency services and search and rescue, so it was important that we listen to the feedback and look for savings opportunities.”
Cabinet has approved the pricing rates as maximums and allowed flexibility for reductions, should further opportunities for efficiency be identified over the next two years.
The changes will take effect on 1 July 2025. Any reductions to the final amounts will be notified no later than 30 days ahead of this date.
2024 Pricing review Cost Recovery Impact Statement [PDF 1.8 MB]
Actions to speed up air travel delivering results | Beehive.govt.nz(external link)
1 Passenger safety levies are charged separately for domestic and international passengers. The pricing is harmonised with the exception of passengers travelling between Australia and New Zealand, for which the levy will become $3.85.
027 763 0000 | media@caa.govt.nz
