The airport departure tax penalises regional Irish airports, business, and passengers at a difficult time, and no adequate information has been received as to the tax’s purpose or how it will be implemented.
This is the view of Joe Walsh, the managing director of Galway Airport, who is critical of the air travel tax on departures from Irish airports which was introduced by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan in Budget 09.
The tax comes into effect from March 30. Air journeys under 300kms will incur a €2 travel tax while there will be a €10 charge applying to all journeys in excess of 300kms. There are some exemptions from this tax including children under two years and disabled passengers.
The effect of the tax means that it will be cheaper to fly from Dublin to London than it is to fly from Galway, Shannon, Cork, or Knock to London, as the western towns and cities fall outside 300kms.
“We don’t believe that this is a fair tax,” said Mr Walsh. “It discriminates against flights out of regional airports and produces a situation where a flight from Manchester to Galway will be more expensive that to Dublin because of the €10 tax.”
He said the tax is “penalising the air industry” at a particularly difficult time when routes, airlines, and passenger numbers are in decline.
Yesterday Mr Walsh was at a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport seeking to get clarification and demanding information on the travel tax.
“There has been no discussion or consultation on this,” he said. “There are still a lot of unanswered questions arising from how this tax is going to be collected. All we have been told is that we have to collect it - but in what form? There’s been no discussion.”
He said some references have been made to a similar type tax in Britain but that here too many questions remain unanswered.
“The airport tax in Britain is a green tax,” said Mr Walsh. “Is what’s proposed for Ireland a green tax? There has been no clarification on that. If it is a green tax it is penalising regional carriers like Aer Arann which have environmentally friendly craft.”
