Panel Votes to Triple LAX Landing Fees : Airport: The new charges are expected to generate $30 million a year. Airlines call the rate increase unreasonable.

Airlines using Los Angeles International Airport will pay significantly higher fees under a new policy adopted Monday by the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners that is expected to generate an additional $30 million a year.

The landing fees at LAX, negotiated 40 years ago, have been among the lowest of any major U.S. airport. The rates will now triple from 52 cents to $1.56 per 1,000 pounds of landed weight, bringing the rate closer to those levied at other major domestic airports.

“We’re raising the rates so we’re competitive with the rest of the industry,” said Commission President Leland Wong. “This will generate an additional $30 million, and $30 million is significant.”

The airlines oppose the change, calling the new rates unreasonable and maintaining that they already contribute heavily to LAX operations.

John Ek, a spokesman for the Air Transport Assn., said it is deceptive to compare landing fees at U.S. airports because different costs are built in at different facilities. He said the airlines that use LAX are more than willing to pay the full cost of operating the airport.

“When we are being asked to contribute more than the cost of running the airport, that’s when we get concerned,” Ek said.

The action is the first step by the financially strapped city to recover revenue from the airport. Mayor-elect Richard Riordan has sought to tap into airport revenue to pay for more police officers, a prospect that the airlines vehemently oppose and one that appears unlikely to win federal approval.

Under the old landing-fee agreement, which expired six months ago, the rate is affected by the sales of airport concessions. The rate drops when the sale of food and beverages goes up.

That system--which Councilwoman Ruth Galanter called a “sweetheart deal”--has been scrapped in favor of a “cost-of-service calculation” that bases landing fees on the costs of operating the airport.

The commission’s action came during its final meeting before Riordan takes over the mayor’s office on Thursday.

Riordan has sought to prevent the commissioners, appointed by outgoing Mayor Tom Bradley, from acting on some controversial matters in their final days. But the commissioners said he supports the higher landing fees and made no attempt to delay the vote.

Another decision--the much-debated selection of a contractor to operate the parking lots at the Los Angeles International, Van Nuys and Ontario airports--was held over for the Riordan team.

The commission had been scheduled to award the contract--the nation’s largest municipal parking enterprise, with $52 million in annual receipts--but it backed down at the last minute and voted 3 to 2 to let the new commission decide.

Although an airport advisory panel last year unanimously recommended Parking Concepts, the commission had seemed poised in January to select AMPCO Parking, a joint venture connected to longtime Bradley ally Homer Broome. Critics contended that awarding the contract to AMPCO would have been a clear political favor by the Bradley-appointed commissioners.

Instead of selecting Parking Concepts, the company with the highest rating, the commission voted to start from scratch with a new round of bidding. Those new bids, reviewed by the commission Monday, put Five Star Parking at the top of the list.

“I’d like to give this parking problem to the new mayor,” said Commissioner Jack Tenner, who recommended allowing Riordan’s appointees to select a company.