O.C. Passes $4.50 Airport Departure Fee

Orange County supervisors approved a plan Tuesday for improving John Wayne Airport, including a $4.50 departure fee likely to take effect next summer.

The fee, to be added to the price of each departing passenger’s ticket, must be approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, which airport officials hope will act by early spring.

According to airport spokeswoman Courtney Wiercioch, the departure fee is expected to contribute about $181 million to a $512-million improvement project that will include a new terminal and two parking structures.

The rest of the money will come from a variety of sources, including contributions from the airport itself, federal grants, bonds and a loan, she said.

If approved by the FAA, preliminary construction on the five-year project should begin next summer with the user fee taking effect in July, Wiercioch said. The fee would end in 15 1/2 years, when the airport debt is paid off.

“By moving forward with the project,” she said, “we will be able to provide additional gates, baggage claims, security checkpoints and parking.”

Supervisor Chris Norby, who cast the only vote against the fee, said he’d have preferred to charge airlines more for their right to land.

“The airport has quite a bit of money and an excellent credit rating,” he said.

“I just wasn’t convinced this was the direction in which we should go. It’s a lot of money to charge for a fairly modest expansion in an area where we have lots of airlines that want to land.”

The airport handles about 9.7 million passengers annually, although its two terminals are designed to serve only 8.4 million. The improvement project, Wiercioch said, would bring the airport’s capacity to 10.8 million

“We are bursting at the seams today,” she said.

“This project is designed to better meet the needs of those who travel to and from Orange County.”

Supervisor James Silva, who spearheaded the measure, could not be reached for comment.