JAMAICA'S waiver of air navigation fees for small, private aircraft will now place the island on a preferred list to attract operators hoping to avoid paying what they consider exorbitant airport charges.

Colonel Oscar Derby, director general of the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (JCAA), said only Caribbean countries offering "affordable" airport charges are listed in Caribbean Adventures -- a tourism publication used mainly by tourists who fly themselves to destinations.

"These Caribbean destinations are usually listed if the fees to go there are affordable," Derby told the Observer.

"Now, when Jamaica was assessed, and it has been assessed over a number of years, it was found that the airport charges were too high," he added.

But with this waiver of up to US$100, Derby said Jamaica will now be able to compete with some of her Caribbean neighbours.

The waiver, which came into effect on February 15, applies to aircraft weighing 12,500 pounds, or 5,700 kilogrammes or less.

Explaining why small aircraft operators shied away from destinations with higher charges, Derby said although these airport charges were within regulated amounts, at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, for instance, operators do not utilise the option of parking at the western end of the airport and do their own landing at a lower fee.

Instead, Derby said, they often opt to utilise the service of a private fixed-based operator who handles these aircraft and charge a premium.

"By using this centre, they think they are exposed to a higher fee when compared to other islands," he told the Observer.

Meanwhile, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett welcomed the JCAA decision, noting that the removal of the fee would serve to stimulate the high-end tourism market by attracting more owners of private planes to Jamaica.

"There is a very lucrative market for this type of tourism which is very popular with countries in the region like the Bahamas, and Jamaica no doubt can benefit from this type of tourism," Bartlett said.

He added that the high-end tourism market holds tremendous possibilities for substantially growing revenues from tourism.

"This move by the JCAA to waive the tax will make Jamaica, which lies in close proximity to the United States, attractive to those tourists who would prefer to fly in on their own private jets," Bartlett said.

Derby, meanwhile, said the air navigational fees, which average out at US$66, may not seem as much initially. However, when the landing fees are factored in they add up to a significant amount.

"The JCAA, recognising that this fee represents only .43 per cent of its revenue, decided we could forego these charges from the sector in order to reduce the total charge that they have to pay to come to Jamaica," he said.

He added that the expected benefit to the economy will far outweigh what would have been collected in fees from this sector.

However, he made it clear that the JCAA was not responsible for airport landing fees.