The tax that bites back
The Association of European Airlines, representing Europe’s major network carriers, has condemned the decision of the Austrian government to impose a departure tax on airline passengers, of €8 for shorthaul journeys and €40 for longhaul (TravelMole Asia Paciifc, Nov 2).
AEA said it is particularly critical of the depiction of the tax as an eco-levy which will lead to reduced carbon emissions, when its purpose is clearly to plug a budget deficit.
“If the intention is to boost fiscal revenues, I fear that the Austrian Government may find that it has got its sums wrong,†said AEA secretary general, Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus.
“They should learn the lesson of the Netherlands, which abandoned its own passenger tax in 2009 after just 12 months, when it was discovered that it had cost the economy a billion euros, in return for just €300 million in revenues.
“In the Dutch case, many passengers chose to avoid the tax by driving to Brussels or Dusseldorf – hardly a ‘green’ option – and the Austrian experience would be very similar,†said Schulte-Strathaus.
Instead of using Vienna , passengers would fly from a nearby adjoining countries, the airline association warned.
The new UK departure tax – passengers flying to destinations more than 6,000 miles from London, including Singapore and Australia, will pay £85 in economy class and a whopping £170 in premium classes – is also expected to encourage long haul travellers to use Paris or Amsterdam airports rather than fly out of the UK.
Ian Jarrett
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