Hamilton International Airport is going to court to try and stop Customs Service charging it nearly $500,000 for providing immigration services.
The airport filed a statement of claim in the High Court in Hamilton last week for a judicial review of the legality of customs' decision to charge Hamilton as a "start-up" international airport, the Waikato Times reported. The hearing will take place sometime next year.
Customs is demanding the airport pays $450,000 a year for "new" services for Pacific Blue flights.
The airport wants Customs to honour a 2005 government promise to fully fund customs services at airports which handled 9000 or more departing passengers.
However, the deal also says newly established international airports are required to pay all establishment costs and ongoing hourly costs for staff attendance.
Hamilton Airport, which has averaged 100,000 international passengers for the last decade, operated international flights to Australia and the Pacific for about 15 years, until Air New Zealand suspended its services in April.
Pacific Blue started its own trans-Tasman services in September.
