THE PROPOSED airport travel tax announced in the Budget "will have a devastating impact" on passenger numbers and future route development for the west and northwest, Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has been told.
In a letter, group managing director of Ireland West Airport Knock (IWA Knock) Liam Scollan has appealed to Mr Lenihan to make the tax "more effective, fairer and workable". Saying IWA Knock "fully understands the reasons why the Government must at this time impose new taxes and support an economy in crisis", he requested the Minister "consult with us on the matter" to "ensure retention of the tax without loss of estimated revenue".
As it stands, the tax "will give a further unfair advantage to Dublin airport over every other airport in the State and effectively provides an €8 per passenger incentive for passengers to fly from Dublin to some key UK destinations rather than from airports in the west of Ireland," he said.
Under the proposals, passengers flying more than 300km from an airport must pay a €10 tax, while those flying less than that distance must pay €2. It means that those flying to Manchester and Liverpool from Dublin, for example, will pay €2 tax, while those travelling from Sligo, Knock, Shannon, Kerry and Cork to the same British destinations will pay a €10 tax.
Mr Scollan told the Minister a reduction of between 5 per cent and 10 per cent in passenger numbers into Knock "would result in a loss of between €5.2 million and €10.5 million in tourism revenue to the region - far more than the revenue collected".
