Ryanair Calls On Irish Govt To Scrap Travel Tax As UK Study Proves UK APD Tax Costs Jobs & Growth

2013-02-04 — /travelprnews.com/ — Ryanair, Europe’s only ultra-low cost carrier (ULCC), today (5 Feb) called on the Irish Govt to scrap its €3 travel tax in order to stimulate jobs and tourism growth as an independent Pricewaterhouse Coopers study* offered compelling evidence of the damage caused by a similar travel tax (APD) in the UK.

The Pricewaterhouse Coopers study into UK Air Passenger Duty (APD) confirmed:

· The abolition of APD would yield 0.46% of the UK GDP in the first year and at least £16bn within 3 years
· New flights and 60,000 new jobs would be created
· APD is one of the 3 most destructive taxes, alongside Corporation Tax and Fuel Duty
· Aviation is an engine of economic growth for international commerce and tourism

Ryanair called on the Irish Govt to ‘axe the tax’, which has badly damaged Irish tourism with passenger numbers at Irish airports falling from 30m in 2007 to just 22.8m in 2012, even as other EU countries scrapped their travel taxes, including Belgium and Holland.

Ryanair’s Robin Kiely said:
“The results of this independent UK study offer conclusive evidence of the damage done by travel taxes in the UK. The Irish Government’s €3 travel tax is also damaging Irish tourism.Ireland cannot grow tourism by taxing visitors and raising airport charges to uncompetitive levels. Other EU countries have returned to growth by scrapping tourist taxes and cutting airport charges, in some cases to zero and Ireland should now follow this lead.”