Travel tax to be cut from €10 to €3
The measure is being introduced with a new financial incentive scheme from the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA), which will see Dublin, Cork and Shannon airports effectively waiving all airport charges for passengers once a threshold of 23.5 million passengers is reached next year.
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said the cut in air travel tax would be introduced for one year and warned it would be increased if it was “being used by airlines as an opportunity to raise their fees and charges”.
However, chief executive of Ryanair Michael O’Leary described the reduction in the air travel tax as a “half-measure” forced on the Government by the EU and would do nothing to reverse the recent decline in Irish air traffic and tourism.
“It is regrettable that the Government didn’t have the balls or vision to go the whole way and scrap this stupid tourist tax altogether, when at this new €3 level it will bring in less than €35 million per annum. While the Government reduces the tourist tax by €7, the Government-owned DAA monopoly has increased airport fees by over €11 per departing passenger over 2010 and 2011,” he said.
Chief executive of the Irish Tourist Industry Confederation Eamonn McKeown welcomed the reduction in air travel tax as a “significant development”.
“When this is coupled with the DAA incentive of free landing charges for all additional new passengers produced by the carriers, this is a major incentive for the airlines to develop new routes,” he said.
The Irish Hotels Federation welcomed “the strong and decisive action” in the budget to help revive the tourism sector, particularly the reduction of the air travel tax, the maintenance of levels of marketing funding at €41.5m and the retention of VAT rates.
