Cheeky Charge at Norwich Airport

Passengers leaving from Norwich Airport are having to pay an extra £3 "Airport Development Fee" - on top of the charge they paid for airport fees and departure taxes when they bought their ticket. This is really cheeky.

Apart from the issue of the "compulsory extra" (see my separate note on this), there is the issue of why passengers should be asked for an extra contribution to future development. From the vox-pop interviews I have heard on the issue, many appear to feel it is OK to be charged like this because it is building a better facility they will enjoy in the future.

Well, sort of. But they are not (as they seem to imagine) making a contribution to developing a communally-owned asset. They are making an extra payment to an 80.1%-commercial company that owns the airport, and the commercial interests will benefit from 80.1% of the extra income from the extra people using the developed airport. (See http://www.omniport.co.uk/).

Will we next see National Express hitting passengers for an extra on top of their coach fee to help them buy more coaches?