Spain: airport taxes push flight prices higher
We knew it was coming but we didn't want to believe it. Finally though, it's here and we are no where near being happy about it. Spain has approved and implemented a rise in airport taxes and passengers can be expected to dish out to cover them.
The increases largely depends on the airport but at the country's two busiest airports, Madrid and Barcelona, airport taxes have more than doubled. At Madrid, each passenger is to pay €14.44 from the previous €6.95 and at Barcelona, each passenger is to pay €13.44 from the previous €6.12.
For low cost airlines it's easy. Both Ryanair and Vueling have passed on the additional fee to their passengers, no questions asked. It's the other airlines though who are still deciding how to respond to the change. There are no exceptions, even for passengers who booked their flights months ago. Some airlines are telling their passengers either to pay the additional fee or cancel their tickets.
The airport tax is geared to raise tens of millions of much-needed Euros for the Spanish government to keep the economy afloat (an economy that is in dire need of help) but are the changes to drastic that it could keep tourists away when they’re so desperately needed?
From a technical side, it’s a travel agents nightmare to have to chase down passengers in order to collect payment to cover the new departure taxes. For now, British Airways and Iberia are stuck whether to absorb the cost on behalf of passengers or not.
What do you say? Should passengers have to pay extra or should the airlines cover the costs?