Logan Discounts Landing Fees To Lure New International Service

The Massachusetts Port Authority yesterday announced a financial incentive package that will offer landing fee credits for new nonstop international routes at Boston's Logan International Airport.

The program, which will offer a 75 percent credit on landing fees for the first year of service and a 25 percent credit during the second year of service, is intended to create from three to six new nonstop routes, said Tom Kinton, CEO and executive director of Massport. "We wanted to level the playing field to make sure that we can be as attractive as these other airports are when it comes to the financials of the deal. When airlines look at these startups, they tend to not make money in the first year or two, so having these incentives helps ease that financial loss that may occur," he said.

The program will only apply to nonstop international routes not currently serviced by Logan. The program is intended to target Mexico City, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia, particularly Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul. "They're the ones that our business markets here in Boston and New England have asked us to go after," he said, adding that passengers now must fly out of Logan and connect in some of the nation's busiest airports.

"It's exactly what the business traveler looks for. They look for more point-to-point stuff to avoid some of the congested airports as well as added time to their itinerary," he said. The program will start in July and will go through July 1, 2011. Funding will come out of Massport's improvement and extension fund. The program also will include advertising opportunities. Logan's landing fees are based on airplane weight and the cost to an airline for a Boeing 787 would be about $500,000 per year.