Travel tax to be cut from €10 to €3

THE much criticised air travel tax is to be slashed from €10 to €3 per passenger in a bid to boost ailing tourism numbers.

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”.