I would think that the answers would be easily attainable for the BTB thru the same source as the opening of boat travel from Mexico. The tourist board of Cancun would most likely have a good deal of insight on this issue.

What are the landing fees/ground handling costs etc. in Belize? Maybe that's why the Belize portion is so expensive.

It's been known forever as the most expensive landing fee in all of central and south America. How much I don't know. But the improvements to the landing strip were not cheap.

From this site:

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/login

You can get, by following the links, an idea of what they call cost construction of fares. It's a travel agent site (i.e. you can't buy from it) and there is a fair amount of their coded gobbledygook that makes the info limited for the average flyer. I have found through Google some forum websites for flyers but they are intimidating unless you are up to speed on the lingo.

Taken from an article from Cybercayecaulker.com



General Information about Air Service in Belize

Both Maya Island and Tropic Air services have connections to Philip Goldson International Airport in Ladyville (15 miles north of Belize City) where Continental, Grupo TACA, American Airlines and Delta make daily stops on their routes to and from the U.S. and Canada and most of the Caribbean and Central and South American countries that Pan American Airlines left when it ended service to Belize.


One final caveat about Belize International Airport... If you intend to air travel around Belize - don't go through the international airport, except to arrive and depart the country - because of the Belize governments unusually high landing fees at the international airport, air fares to that terminal are literally double those of Belize Municipal Airport.


As a matter of fact - if there are 2 or more people in your group, you can taxi into Belize city from the International Airport ($15, U.S. for the whole cab, not per person); tour around Belize City and then fly to Caye Caulker from the Municipal Airport for about the same money as a one way flight from Philip Goldson International Airport to San Pedro.

Fees

As mentioned above, the operating hours of the PGIA are from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Belize Airport Concession Company and Civil Aviation works seven days a week; whereas, Customs, Immigration and Quarantine works Monday through Friday, thereby, charging overtime to work on weekends in addition to working outside the operational hours of the airport.



The following are private aircraft fees charged by the various facilitating agencies at the PGIA:

BACC (Belize Airport Concession Company)

Landing fees are $9.75 for the first 6,000 lbs. of the aircraft’s weight, and $1.60 per 1,000 lbs. or part thereof.

For parking fees the first three hours are free and $4.00 for each 24 hours or part thereof per 10,000 lbs.

Passenger charges are: $2.50 per int’l passenger and $1.50 per domestic passenger for security fees; $30.00 for departure tax; $7.50 for PACT fee (foreigners only) and $30.00 for airport development fee (foreigners only).

Overtime fees are $394.00 for the first hour and $254.00 for any additional hour.

The Belize Airport Concession Company adds a 10% General Sales Tax on landing and parking fees.
CUSTOMS
Customs overtime fees are $40.00 for int’l arrival & $40.00 departure outside operating hours and on weekends the overtime fees are $80.00 arrival & $80.00 departure.

IMMIGRATION
Immigration overtime fees are $80.00 int’l arrival and departure for outside operating hours and weekends.

QUARANTINE
Quarantine overtime fees are $30.00 for each hour outside operating hours and on weekends.

CIVIL AVIATION
Civil Aviation overtime fees are $150.00 for each hour outside operating hours. Note: An operator desiring the provision of Air Traffic Services must request the services to the Belize Airport Concession Company Limited´s Duty Manager no later than 2300 UTC (1700 / 5:00 pm local).

CENTRAL AMERICAN COOPERATION AIR NAVIGATION SERVICES (COCESNA)
charges a fee per nautical mile flown in accordance with the aircraft’s weight. The charges are:

Category of Aircraft Maximum Take Off Weight lbs Coast Per Nautical Mile Flown US$
I 170,001 or more 0.55
II 110,001 to 170,000 0.36
III 50,001 to 110,000 0.28
IV 12,500 to 50,000 0.13


Aircrafts exempted from the above mentioned charges are: state, military or official aircrafts; private aircrafts on official missions; private aircrafts involved in humanitarian missions; aircraft in emergency situations or involved in search and rescue activities; and aircrafts whose maximum take off weight is below 12,500 lbs.

Contact Information:

Immigration and Nationality Services
Plaza Building

Maybe Ministry of Transportation and Ministry of Tourism need to talk to each other and decide if they want the tourist dollar to go to Belize or another country in the Caribbean that is comparable. When we were on AC last winter we didn't find Belize to be such a bargain (food, transportation, rent etc.) compared to other islands we have been too. Perhaps money to pay for the airport improvement and its operation could/should be raised through other taxes so as not to reduce the amount of tourist dollars coming into the country... but then maybe they have decided to slow down tourism so AC doesn't become another version of Cancun or Florida.

I am yet to hear a valid reason or suggested solution - just complaints - champions above info might have been good if I could translate it!!!! Are our Landing fees significantly more than elsewhere in the region, and if so is that because they are subsidised by others. Someone must know. cracked up? I was told by one of the Board members that run the Airport what the average landing fees for each commercial jet were. I can't remember the number but I was staggered at how low it was. I would guess it was three figures or low four figures.

If you are saying Belize is not cheap once you're here thats a different story, and please remember you have to compare apples to apples. The US (and Canada by partial default) are the largest consumer markets on the planet. You can't go anywhere else and find the same products cheaper as you have a mass market and margins can be tiny and still the economy flows. So for those that come and say " What!!!! I can buy Cheerios at a third of that at home" yes you can and there's a reason for it. Have a slice of Watermelon a Banana a Fry Jack, or a Johhny Cake.

Phil... If your comment about prices in Belize was a response to my comment you will find, if you re-read it, I was comparing prices in Belize to other islands we have visited NOT the US or Canada. Yes we found it not to be a bargain once we were there. I expect prices for certain things to be more expensive than home but still within the same range as other countries with similar population and challenges.

Not directly it wasn't no, just an overall generalism on a lot of visitors thoughts, which never catches everything or everyone.

However which Islands in the Caribbean are cheaper than Belize and for what? Comparing apples to apples? Just asking not picking a fight.