Vector News
Vector’s FlightRev Generates More Revenue for Less
Counties and Muniipaclities with busy airports can generate revenue without burdening local taxpayers or based pilots
Chantilly, VA, June 3, 2010: Counties, cities and municipalities with busy general aviation (GA) airports can generate a reliable and predictable revenue stream via a full-service offering from a Washington, DC–based company. FlightRev, from Vector Airport Solutions, does not require any additional staff to operate and can deliver airport revenue within 30 days of installation.
Airport infrastructure is a capital-intensive business when considering the expense of runway/taxiway maintenance, lighting, navigational aids, and communications gear, not to mention the daily up-keep of grass, equipment operation and staff expenses. The financial burden of operating general aviation airports oftentimes falls on local taxpayers (via General Fund dollars) and based pilots (who pay hangar rents and purchase most of the fuel sold at their home airport). Aircraft operators not based at an airport – corporate operators especially – often pay nothing for using the general aviation facilities they visit: they land their aircraft, drop-off passengers or cargo, and depart often without purchasing fuel or any other services that generate revenue to cover the airport operating costs. One way to fairly spread the financial burden is to implement a nominal aircraft landing fee for non-based, transient aircraft operators and use Vector’s FlightRev to administer the fee.
“Collectively, we generate millions of dollars a year for our clients,” says Pete Coleton, Vector’s President and CEO. “Our service allows airports to charge small fees to transient operators, helping the airport to avoid raising hangar rents and fuel flowage fees, which are the major expenses for small GA aircraft owners.”
Many airport authorities choose not to implement landing fees under the false assumption that it is expensive and difficult to administer. Not so, says Mr. Coleton. “Our low cost system automatically tracks all aircraft activities at an airport – IFR and even VFR which all other tracking systems miss. FlightRev then automatically converts billable activities into invoices. We also handle all the administrative burdens – we mail out the bills, collect the revenue in a lockbox, transfer the airport’s money to them, and provide detailed reports. If an airport has already invested in a tracking system, our solution can leverage that data.”
Airport managers are sometimes reluctant to recommend landing fees because they can be unpopular with recreational flyers and might deter traffic. Vector has found that many airports alleviate these concerns by exempting from the fee transient aircraft under a certain weight, for example, under 4,000 pounds. Vector has also found that business aircraft operators typically expect a landing fee and are willing to pay it, because the fees tend to be a very small portion of their overall operating costs and can be passed along to their corporate clients. Vector says none of its client that have implemented a new landing fee have seen a decline in aircraft operations.
About Vector:
Vector-US, Inc. is a small company based in Chantilly, Virginia with client airports across the United States. Vector’s landing fee management, aircraft tracking and general aviation surveillance and intelligence gathering full-service solutions use green-technology are highly automated, leverage web-based tools, and require no airport staff to operate. Visit Vector on the web at www.vector-us.com.
