Airports Hope Boarding Fees Are Ticket to Expansion : Transportation: The Burbank facility plans to build its terminal using a $3-per-passenger charge recently allowed by Congress. LAX also foresees improvements.

Los Angeles International and Burbank airports expect to reap millions of dollars in additional revenue by charging airline passengers a $3 boarding fee allowed under a law passed by Congress last month.

Airport officials said the money will be used for expansion and related projects, including a new terminal at Burbank Airport.

LAX will be eligible to receive as much as $67.9 million a year in boarding fees and Burbank about $4.5 million under the new law, according to estimates from airport officials.

Burbank plans to use the funds to acquire land for a new terminal building, said Victor J. Gill, spokesman for the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority. The authority is negotiating to purchase a parcel from Lockheed Corp. in the airport’s northeast portion, the prefered location for the new facility.

Los Angeles International might use the income to reduce the noise affecting nearby residents, to construct a rail system between terminals and increase terminal capacity and parking for aircraft, said Clifton A. Moore, executive director of the city’s Department of Airports.

Money provided by the boarding fees will permit airports across the country to proceed with capital projects without obtaining permission from airlines. Commercial carriers, which provide a large part of airport revenue, often are reluctant to approve expansion proposals that could lead to increased competition, officials said.

“It enables us to go forward without having lengthy debates with the airlines who have concerns about competition,” Moore said. “And it’s the lowest-cost way to build these improvements.”

Under the law, passed in the waning days of the 101st Congress, any large or medium-sized airport is authorized to charge a fee of up to $3 every time a passenger boards a plane at its facility. The maximum charge for a round trip would be $12 for a passenger boarding planes at four different airports.

The fees are not expected to be imposed until late 1991, after adoption both of regulations on their implementation and a final rule on a national airport noise policy.

Federal transportation officials, who will have the right to review projects to be funded with fee revenue, have indicated that increased capacity and competition will be the top priorities.

Burbank needs to replace its passenger terminal, which was built more than 60 years ago, because it is too close to runways to meet current safety regulations. The new facility is expected to cost $200 million to $250 million, airport officials have said.

The airport authority is negotiating with Lockheed, which formerly owned the airport and still has facilities there, to purchase all or part of a 100-acre site known as the “Skunk Works,” where advanced military planes have been designed under super-secret conditions. The airport is doing an environmental impact report on possible sites for a new terminal.

“It is obvious that the safety and capacity enhancements of a new terminal development will be more than worth the investment,” Thomas E. Greer, director of Burbank Airport services, said last month when he testified in support of the boarding fee before a congressional subcommittee. He added that the airport authority would be hard-pressed to build the new terminal without such a fee.

Los Angeles International’s facilities can accommodate the 45 million people who arrive and depart from the airport every year, but the passenger load is expected to increase to 65 million in the next 10 to 12 years, Moore said.

LAX has a 10-year expansion and improvement plan that would cost $1.25 billion to $1.4 billion to implement, half of which would be funded by the boarding fees.

The rest would be financed through revenue bonds and third parties, such as airlines, concessionaires and other airport tenants, who pass costs on to consumers.

Nationwide, airport operators estimate that they need $50 billion over the next five years for construction to keep up with an expected increase in passenger demand, said Charles Barclay, executive vice president of the American Assn. of Airport Executives. If all eligible airports impose the new fees, they could generate $1 billion a year, Barclay said.

Barclay said lower-priced airline tickets resulting from increased competition may more than compensate passengers for the increased cost of the boarding fee.