Ryanair has this week welcomed the scrapping of a 38% increase in passenger tax in Venice, allowing the airline to restore full operations.
The Irish low-cost carrier has been a vocal critic of the proposed taxes all across Italy.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
Ryanair & The Response to Venice Scrapping the Passenger Tax…
The Municipality of Venice voted to eliminate the 38% increase in taxes on passengers departing from Marco Polo Airport.
This original increase forced Ryanair to remove one aircraft and six routes from the airport as a result.
As a result of this scrap, the Irish low-cost carrier has confirmed a full schedule out of Marco Polo Airport.
This will protect flights, local jobs and low-cost connectivity within the region, the airline says.
McGuinness: Great News for the City…
Commenting on this news was Ryanair CCO Jason McGuinness who welcomed the decision:
“Ryanair welcomes the Council of State’s decision to eliminate the excessive 38% increase imposed by the Municipality of Venice on passengers departing from Venice Marco Polo airport.”
“This is great news for the city of Venice, its citizens and visitors who will benefit from Ryanair’s increased national and international connectivity, traffic, tourism and low fares in the winter season, as well as continuing to benefit from Ryanair’s $400 million investment (4 aircraft) in Venice for summer ’24, which would otherwise have been lost due to this excessive tax increase.”
“Venice Marco Polo competes with cities in Spain, Croatia and now neighboring Trieste that do not have such a penalizing tax, making it uncompetitive compared to other EU airports and much less attractive to airlines, like Ryanair, when considering where to allocate capacity.”
“However, following the Council of State’s decision to eliminate this excessive 38% tax increase, Ryanair confirms a full operation to/from Venice Marco Polo Airport this winter, offering year-round capacity, traffic growth and of tourism and low rates for the city of Venice and its citizens.”
“This is a welcome turnaround from what Venice Marco Polo could have faced this winter, including a potential winter base closure, if they had continued to impose this excessive tax increase.”
“We hope that the Municipality of Venice will soon realize this and follow the example of the nearby Trieste airport, which this winter will benefit from Ryanair’s +50% capacity, as a direct consequence of the sensible decision of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region to abolish the municipal surcharge, so that Venice Marco Polo can benefit from capacity, traffic and tourism growth all year round”.
Overall…
In conclusion, this is more good news for Ryanair than it is for Venice.
The Irish low-cost carrier typically calls for taxes to be reduced or scrapped in their entirety.
This is due to it being cheaper for them.
However, with them being a low-cost carrier this is expected.
This move will benefit passengers through lower fares.
All eyes will now be on whether the municipality will do the same for Trieste Airport.
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