Discussions are currently underway between London City Airport and the Metropolitan Police Authority in respect of the payment of police charges. The central issue here is which of the two should be responsible for these payments and, with initial talks beginning last week, continued verbal interaction is expected until a resolution takes places – scheduled for later this year.

In a similar way to the majority of smaller airports in the UK, London City is excluded from having to pay police patrol costs. The core hubs, however – such as London Gatwick and London Heathrow – do have to contribute to a degree. The present cost in respect of London City Airport is £7 million a year. This is covered by the Met, but, ultimately, through taxpayers in the UK’s capital.

The current debate extends past London City, as the Metropolitan Police Authority is looking for all British airports to pay their own policing costs. In this way, meetings such as the current one regarding the Docklands Airport are also taking place across the land. The deadline for an agreement to be made is around two months away. However, concerns are rife that this may not be met. One member of the MPA, Richard Barnes, highlighted fears concerning the wavering status of current rules.

Mr Barnes explained: “There appears to be no common approach to the extent to which operators contribute to policing costs and too many different interpretations of requirements under current legislation. Police have to provide a service to protect all those who use our airports, and it is unfair to expect them to pay for policing private, moneymaking businesses.”

He concluded:“At the end of the day, it is the taxpayer who pays, while shareholders earn dividends. This can be tolerated no longer.”

Should the November deadline come and go, the next step will be the intervention of Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Transport.

Airport International will continue to provide unrivalled coverage of the very latest information to emerge in regards to the current airport policing discussions, as we get the facts.

Source – Airport International’s London Reporter