East Hampton to hike fees for landing and fuel at town-run airport

The Town of East Hampton plans to hike landing fees at its airport in Wainscott by 15% to generate revenue to repair and replace aging infrastructure at the facility.

The town also wants to hike fuel fees at the airport, which are currently 30 cents per gallon, by 2 cents.

The public airport serves a mix of private pilots, charter flights, commercial businesses and seasonal visitors, according to the town.

The town is increasing fees at a “sweet spot” that lets it pay off the roughly $4.6 million it seeks to borrow for capital improvements, Supervisor Kathee Burke-Gonzalez said during a work session on Tuesday. The increases in landing and fuel fees are expected to generate more than $350,000 in additional yearly revenue.

“We're not building VIP rooms or expanding any type of amenity at the airport. Everything that's on this list is critical for airport safety, and I don't think those are negotiable,” Councilwoman Cate Rogers said.

Board members said they agreed to the fee increases and plan to vote on them in March — giving time for aviation industry representatives to weigh in. The rate hikes would take effect on May 1, when flights pick up due to the influx of seasonal visitors.

This year’s big-ticket item is the resurfacing of one of two runways, which is estimated to cost $2.7 million, airport director Jim Brundige told board members. While the town has repaired cracks in the runway over the years, it now “needs to be completely milled out and repaved,” he said.

Landing fees are based on the weight of planes and helicopters, with larger aircraft paying more, according to the presentation. The landing fee for the smallest aircraft — those that weigh less than 4,500 pounds — would increase from $20 to $23. The landing fee for the largest aircraft — those that weigh more than 50,000 pounds — would climb from $700 to $805.

The town has not raised landing fees since 2016. Fuel prices were last hiked in 2014. Officials noted inflation has since ballooned: The Consumer Price Index, which measures price increases over time, has grown more than 32% over that time period. 

East Hampton-based aviation businesses, many of which have leases at the airport, are exempt from landing fees, but not from the fuel charge, said Katie van Heuven, outside counsel for the town. Last year, 3,033 of the 12,674 landings at the airport were exempt from the fees, according to town data.

Town officials said they will revisit the airport’s fees in 2027 and possibly increase them again to finance future projects. The town wants to ensure the airport remains self-sustaining and is not financed by tax revenue, Burke-Gonzalez said. The airport relies on the fees to operate. 

A future need is a new air traffic control tower, officials said. The current one, installed in 2011, was meant to be temporary and has proved costly to maintain, Brundige said. A new or reconstructed tower is expected to cost $6.5 million, Burke-Gonzalez said.