Wednesday, April 22, 2009

A very good idea

The Alicante provincial tourism board has asked the government to follow the example set by the Greek government by scrapping the airport taxes airline companies have to pay.

The move is being backed by leading Valencia-based hotel chain Servigroup, the hotel owners association Hosbec and low fare airline company Ryaniar.

The move by the Greek government will force down the cost of flying there and make it more economical for airlines. In recent years countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Tunisia, which are direct rivals to Alicante and the Costa Blanca, reduced their airport taxes to the point where they are now subsidising airlines that cannot sell all of their seats.

However, it will be difficult for Spain to follow suit because its taxes are the highest in Europe and the decision to scrap them, at least until October, has to be made at central government level.

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