Ryanair: BMI is latest casulty of €10 tourist tax
Ryanair, Ireland’s favourite airline, today (Jan 12 10) said that the closure of British Midland’s Dublin base, the loss of 33 jobs, and up to 300,000 passengers annually was yet another inevitable result of the Irish Government’s €10 tourist tax and the recent direction by the Dept of Transport to increase Dublin Airport charges by 40% from January 2010 onwards. These Govt price increases have made Dublin an expensive and uncompetitive tourist gateway.
Traffic at Dublin Airport fell from 23.5m in 2008 to just 20m in 2009. As Dublin continues to lose airlines, routes and passengers, Ryanair believes that traffic at Dublin Airport will fall to just 18m in 2010, as the €10 tourist tax and the DAA's high and rising charges continue to damage tourism in Ireland.
The traffic crisis at Dublin will get progressively worse in 2010, when the Government owned DAA monopoly opens T 2 (allowing the DAA to again increase passenger fees), which will increase terminal capacity at Dublin to over 50m passengers annually, at a time when traffic falls to just 18m passengers p.a..
Ryanair's Stephen McNamara said: "The Government and the DAA monopoly are entirely responsible for today's decision by BMI to cut flights, jobs and traffic at Dublin Airport. More cuts at Dublin are inevitable, as Irish traffic and tourism continues to be damaged by the Govt's €10 tourist tax and the Dept of Transport's recent decision to order a 40% increase in Dublin Airport's passenger charges. Irish tourism continues to suffer visitor and jobs losses while the Dept of Transport behaves like the downtown office of the DAA monopoly.
"This traffic and tourism loss can be reversed, but only when the Irish Govt scraps this failed €10 tourist tax and slashes passenger charges at Dublin Airport to their 1997 levels. Ireland is an island on the periphery of Europe. Irish tourism can grow, but only when the Govt returns to a policy of low access costs, which means scrapping tourist taxes and slashing the DAA's high charges".