Here is a more in-depth article on the tax(ing) situation....
Flying Dutchmen Depart From Germany to Avoid Local Airport Tax
By Jurjen van de Pol and Joram Kanner
July 25 (Bloomberg) -- Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport expects fewer passengers than it had a year ago today, traditionally the busiest day of the year. It has nothing to do with rising fuel prices or the economy: Travelers and airlines blame a new tax.
This month the Dutch government imposed a national departure tax of as much as 45 euros ($71) on each ticket, making Schiphol Europe's most expensive airport after London's Heathrow, a government-commissioned study showed in March. The tax, expected to raise 350 million euros a year, seeks to slow traffic growth and make travelers aware of the environmental costs of flying.
The charge has sent travelers looking for cheaper alternatives in Belgium and Germany, about 130 miles away. The levy may cut Air France-KLM Group's Dutch passenger numbers by as many as 1 million this year and slow job creation at the state- owned airport, the airline and a government planning agency say.
``This is outrageous; this tax goes directly into the Treasury and doesn't benefit the environment,'' said Frank Riesenbeck, 55, who now uses Dusseldorf International in Germany for his frequent flights to Belgrade, Serbia. Doing that ``saves me 100 euros per round trip, excluding the cheaper parking costs at Dusseldorf.''
Schiphol's departure costs for intercontinental flights, including security charges, rose to about 70 euros after the tax was introduced. The duty lifts ticket prices for European destinations, including Turkey and Morocco, by 11.25 euros and adds 45 euros for destinations more than 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) away, such as Washington and Sydney.
London More Expensive
Passengers who fly from London Heathrow to cities outside Europe pay at least 73 pounds (92.50 euros) in charges, of which 40 pounds is a government-imposed passenger duty. At Frankfurt Airport, travelers pay 25 euros. Brussels Airport charges 24 euros and Dusseldorf 19 euros.
``I'm already looking for alternatives for Schiphol as these are considerably cheaper,'' said Charlotte Kok, a 19-year-old student from Utrecht, the Netherlands, who flies to New York three times a year.
The government says the new revenue will be used to lower other taxes and invest in the environment, education and security. Airline tickets are exempt from the value-added tax, unlike train travel or cars, Jan Kees de Jager, the state secretary of finance, said in May.
``That's strange as the environmental damage from flying is hefty,'' he said. The tax may lower annual carbon dioxide emissions by 1.5 megatons by slowing passenger growth, the Finance Ministry estimates.
Fewer Jobs
Evert Hassink, a policy adviser at Friends of the Earth Netherlands, said his group would rather see an international tax on jet fuel and a distinction between more- and less-polluting airplanes.
``But we support this tax as flying is a big environmental burden and people need to be aware of that,'' he said.
Schiphol expects the number of passengers it handles to remain at 47.8 million this year, after growing 3.8 percent in 2007. That will prevent the creation of as many as 10,000 jobs at the airport, according to an October forecast by the government planning agency. About 62,000 people work at Schiphol.
Today, usually Schiphol's busiest because Dutch travelers leave for vacations on the final Friday in July, there will be 55,500 departures, down from 56,500 a year ago, said airport spokeswoman Mirjam Snoerwang. About 42 percent of travelers are in transit and don't have to pay the departure tax.
``We already see 50,000 less passengers in July and August,'' Snoerwang said. ``The volume of departing passengers may actually fall this year.''
Competitive Issue
A quarter of Dutch travelers bypass the tax by flying from German or Belgian airports, a survey of 43,500 people by ING Groep NV's Postbank unit showed July 21.
``It is very likely the departure tax will have a negative result on Schiphol's competitiveness,'' the government- commissioned report said in March.
The appeals court in The Hague on July 17 dismissed a lawsuit challenging the tax filed by Ryanair Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest discount airline. The court said the levy doesn't violate the Convention on International Civil Aviation, known as the Chicago Convention, as it only taxes passengers and not aircraft. Schiphol and the Dutch Association of Travel Agents have also sued.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which operates the most flights from Schiphol and handled 23.4 million travelers last year, expects to lose as many as 1 million passengers because of the tax, spokeswoman Marisca Kensenhuis said in an e-mail. The airline, part of Air France-KLM Group, may shift intercontinental flights to Aeroports de Paris's Charles de Gaulle.
`Out of Principle'
EasyJet Plc, Europe's second-biggest discount airline, forecasts the tax will reduce the number of passengers it carries from Schiphol by 15 percent to 1.1 million from April through October, compared with the same period last year, spokesman Oliver Aust said in an e-mail. The airline plans to increase flights out of Brussels partly because of the tax.
``I would almost fly from abroad out of principle because I think this tax only benefits the Dutch government,'' said Quinten Cieremans, 42, a swimming instructor from The Hague, on his way to the Spanish island of Ibiza.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jurjen van de Pol in Amsterdam
jvandepol@bloomberg.netJoram Kanner in Amsterdam at
jkanner@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: July 24, 2008 18:09 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid= ... VUnJbz.3Ig