Second order effects of higher airline fees would include airlines running less flights as people choose alternative options when facing higher passthrough pricing (tax by another name). This impacts airport profits.

Is that per seat or per plane? Seats have been getting packed closer together.

Yes, at least in Europe. Ryanair is infamous for pushing a very hard bargain with airports, but it's common with all the low-cost airlines.

Part of the airport's willingness to give Ryanair a discount is the expectation of full planes with a lot of seats, so there are more people to sell to.

e.g. [1] Table 6, Warsaw Modlin airport charges Ryanair 6 PLN (€1.30) per passenger, vs the normal 40 PLN (€8.50). That's obviously significant when they sell flights for €15 or so.

[1] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317710545_Internati...

Is your complaint with that airline or with budget airlines in general? I'm old enough to remember when a 1 hour flight in Europe would still have hot drinks and snacks served included in the ticket price, but I don't really need that for short haul and I'm glad to pay less for a ticket.

I was talking about Ryanair specifically, have nothing against low cost. Ryanair lures you with low prices and then applies abusive policies on everything else.

Modlin airport is miserable. Shouldn't even have "Warsaw" in the name, as it's nowhere near. To get to Warsaw, you have to take a bus first, then switch to a local train.

I think there are still savings to be made by low cost airlines in e.g. boarding passengers from the gate by bus to a remote location vs using a jetbridge.