According to Dutch daily De Telegraaf, the Netherlands’ government wants to almost triple air departure tax from January 1.
The tax is expected to increase from €7,95 (R138) to €28,58 (R487) per adult passenger, an increase of more than 350%. The hike is a result of environmental commitments Dutch governing parties had made in their coalition agreement.
The tax applies to departures from Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Groningen, Lelystad, Maastricht, Rotterdam and Enschede airports.
Transit passengers are exempt from the levy, first introduced on January 1, 2021.
Apart from departure tax, travellers leaving the country by air have to pay the Netherlands Passenger Service Charge and Netherlands Security Service Charge.
The increase in taxes is part of a new coalition agreement aimed at encouraging people to choose more sustainable transport options such as trains instead of air travel. The 2021-2025 agreement between the coalition parties prioritises combating climate change. In civil aviation, it promises to increase flight taxes and use part of the revenue to make aviation more sustainable and reduce its environmental impact.
"KLM, along with the partners of the sustainable aviation table, believe it is very important that a substantial part of the money raised by the increase in the flight tax goes to more sustainable aviation. Otherwise, an air passenger tax will not help the environment," an airline spokesperson had said.
In April, Iata had warned that increasing airport charges in the Netherlands risked significant damage to the recovery of air connectivity in the country.
