How Flying Works
What Airports Actually Charge Airlines — and How Budget Carriers Dodge It
Brussels South Charleroi Airport sits nearly 55 kilometres from Brussels, in a former coal-mining town no Belgian would mistake for the capital. In the early 2000s, the Walloon regional government and the airport signed Ryanair to a deal. It included cheaper landing and handling fees, plus help with recruitment and training costs, in return for Ryanair basing aircraft there for 15 years, and Ryanair sold the route simply as flights to “Brussels.” The European Commission investigated the deal and ruled in 2004 that part of it was illegal state aid. (An EU court annulled that decision in 2008, and Ryanair has said it repaid about €4 million, roughly $4.5 million.) Separately, a German court ruled that calling Weeze, a regional airport about 70 kilometres from Düsseldorf, “Düsseldorf” was misleading. In 2007 Britain’s advertising regulator told Ryanair to drop a claim that flying London to “Brussels” was faster and cheaper than Eurostar, because it left out the journeys between the airports and the city centres. None of that stopped the strategy working. Charleroi grew from a sleepy regional field into one of Europe’s busiest low-cost gateways, and every budget airline still runs on the same economics today.
What actually shows up on the invoice
A landing fee is charged for each landing, usually based on the aircraft’s landed weight. It’s commonly $1 to $20 per thousand pounds, and most large hubs charge between about $2 and $12. A gate fee is charged per turn (one arrival and the departure after it). It’s around $350 for an airline with a long-term lease at that airport and closer to $600 without one. And using a jet bridge is often charged separately on top. At London Gatwick in 2025/26, the departing-passenger charge of £19.94 (about $26) drops by £4.63 (about $6) for passengers boarding from a remote stand instead of a pier-served one. That published figure shows roughly what the bridge itself costs.
The real numbers
Airport costs, in real numbers
$1–20
Landing fee, per 1,000lb
Most large hubs cluster around $2-12.
$350–600
Gate fee, per turn
Signatory (leased) vs non-signatory airline rates.
15 yrs
Ryanair-Charleroi deal
Reduced fees + cost support for based aircraft. EU ruled part of it illegal aid in 2004 (annulled 2008); Ryanair says it repaid ~€4m (~$4.5m).
£4.63 of £19.94
Gatwick remote-stand rebate, 2025/26
Passenger charge reduction (about $6 of $26) for using a remote stand instead of a pier-served one.
The most expensive thing at a busy airport: time
Landing fees and passenger charges are only part of the cost. At the most crowded airports, the right to land at all has a price.
A slot is permission to use a runway at a specific time. At a slot-controlled airport like London Heathrow, demand is far higher than the runways can handle. Slots are allocated on historical use, so airlines that already hold them can keep them, and they can also be sold.
In February 2016, Oman Air reportedly paid $75 million for one pair of Heathrow slots, a daily landing and takeoff. Oman Air didn’t confirm the price, and reports differed on who sold the pair. It included a valuable early-morning arrival. The previous record, $60 million, was reportedly paid by American Airlines to SAS in 2015.
That price helps explain the budget airline map. A low-cost carrier selling €30 (about $35) seats can’t pay tens of millions for a runway time. So it goes to secondary airports with spare capacity, where slots cost little or nothing, and where the airport may even offer discounts to bring in the traffic.
How low-cost carriers actually avoid it
Three deliberate choices do most of the work, and the Ryanair case study on this site covers all three in depth. The first is remote stands instead of jet bridges. The aircraft parks out on the apron and uses airstairs, boarding and unloading through the front and rear doors at once. That’s cheaper (no bridge fee) and faster (a shorter turnaround and less stand time billed). The second is secondary airports instead of big hubs. Landing fees are lower, and there’s often a negotiated marketing deal from an airport keen on the traffic and the local spending a budget airline brings. It’s the same logic as the Charleroi deal, and it still plays out at regional airports across Europe. The third is fast turnarounds: every minute less on the ground means fewer stand charges and more flying hours from the same aircraft each day. To the airline, the rows over naming an airport after a city two towns away were a cost worth paying. The airport savings behind them were real.
Animated
One jet bridge vs two sets of stairs
737-800 at max landing weight (146,300 lb): $1,170 per landing
Most large hubs charge about $2–$12 per 1,000 lb. Multiply by several landings a day, every day, and a cheaper secondary airport matters. Real invoices add gate, passenger and other charges.
Same aircraft, same passengers. Boarding through both ends of the plane at once roughly halves the time spent at the stand, and parking on a remote stand avoids the separate jet-bridge charge. The calculator below shows how a landing fee charged on landed weight adds up for a Boeing 737-800. Boarding speeds are illustrative.
Sources & Further Reading
Common Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Do airlines pay to park at a gate even briefly?
Yes. Gate fees are usually charged per turn, meaning one arrival plus the departure that follows. They commonly run around $350 for an airline with a long-term lease at that airport (a “signatory” airline) and closer to $600 for one without. That gap is one reason airlines sign long-term gate agreements at their hubs.
Is it cheaper to use airstairs instead of a jet bridge?
Usually, yes, in two ways. Airports often charge extra for using a jet bridge. And airstairs let an airline board and unload through the front and rear doors at once, which shortens the turnaround and so cuts the cost of occupying the stand.
Why do budget airlines fly to smaller, secondary airports?
Landing fees at big hubs are much higher than at smaller regional airports. Secondary airports also often offer negotiated marketing deals to attract a low-cost carrier and the local spending its passengers bring. That’s exactly the kind of deal Ryanair and Charleroi signed in the early 2000s.
Are these fees the same everywhere?
No. Airport charges vary hugely by country, ownership and local rules. One example passengers pay directly: London Gatwick cuts its departing-passenger charge by roughly a quarter if you board from a remote stand instead of a pier-served one. It’s a published figure that shows how real the cost difference is.
Last reviewed: October 2026. Facts that change, such as fleets, airspace and airline ownership, are re-checked on a schedule. Spotted an error? Email contact@skyplus.news and we’ll fix it. See how we check facts.