U.S. CUSTOMS TO RAISE AIRPORT USER FEES

U.S. CUSTOMS TO RAISE AIRPORT USER FEES

   U.S. Customs will increase its airport user fees on Oct. 1.

   Airports that occasionally receive international airline traffic are designated user fee airports. They may or may not have full-time Customs inspectors on airport. At airports without an on-site inspector, the agency will dispatch an inspector to the airport on an as-needed basis. There are 36 user fee airports.

   Customs says the fee increase is necessary to cover the cost to maintain the availability of inspectors. The first-year fee will be $117,600, up from $111,500, and the annual fee thereafter will be $84,500, up from $80,000.