Airport improvement fee on the rise at YYT

Passengers travelling through the St. John's International Airport will pay $35 foran airport improvement fee starting Canada Day an increase from the current $30 charge.

The fee is the "primary source of revenue to finance long-term debt," said the airport authority in a news release Monday.

The increase was announced as part of a new 10-year, $200-million expansion plan.

Several projects were highlighted in the release, including adding 72,000 square feet as the second phase of the airport terminal building expansion, starting in 2018.

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Phase one, which began in 2014, will add 145,000 square feet to the three levels of the east end of the existing building, according to the news release.

That plan "is presently on budget and on schedule" to be finished in 2018, according to the airport authority.