Glossary
The words used on fee notices, tickets and contracts, in plain English.
- Airport security fee
- A fee that pays for passenger screening and border security systems. It may be set by government and run through a private supplier.
- API (Advance Passenger Information)
- Passport details an airline sends to the destination country before the flight lands.
- BOT and BTMT
- Build-Operate-Transfer and Build-Train-Maintain-Transfer: contract models in which a private supplier pays for and installs a system, recovers its cost from fees over a set term, then hands the system to the state.
- Collecting agent
- The party that takes the money from the passenger, often the airline.
- Departure tax
- A government tax on leaving the country, usually paid inside the ticket.
- E-visa
- A visa applied for and paid online before travel.
- Escrow or joint account
- A bank account controlled by more than one party, so that no single party can move the money alone.
- Exemption
- A group that does not pay a fee, such as infants, diplomats or transit passengers.
- ICAO
- The International Civil Aviation Organization, the United Nations agency that sets standards and policy for civil aviation.
- IATA
- The International Air Transport Association, the airline trade body that runs the ticketing and settlement systems through which most ticket taxes are collected.
- Passenger service charge
- A charge for using the terminal and its facilities, usually set by the airport operator and approved by the regulator.
- PNR (Passenger Name Record)
- The booking record an airline holds for a trip, which some governments receive for security checks.
- PPP (public-private partnership)
- A long-term contract in which a private company delivers a public service or asset in return for payments or fees.
- Ticket tax code
- The two-character code that shows each tax or fee on a ticket receipt.
- Unsolicited proposal
- A project offered to a government by a private company, rather than one the government put out to tender.