Newsbot Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Passenger numbers at the Isle of Man airport have dropped by 5% following a cut in routes, the government says. Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/...man/6936330.stm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tugger Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Not to mention that the airlines are all SHITE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karellen Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 Maybe if the government reduced the airline passenger duty tax and airport taxes more people would use the airport. I have just tried to book a flight to Liverpool; fare £56 tax £56 total £112. 100% tax is a joke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triple7 Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 The increase in Airport Passenger Duty will have had the biggest effect on passenger traffic to LPL & MAN. At a stroke this Tax was adopted by the IOM Government when introduced by the UK last December, which increased it from £5 to £10 one way. With IOM getting £10 on the outward journey and the UK getting the £10 on the return. No matter how good the fares can be they are still £10 more than they were same time last year. Guernsey and Jersey chooses not to have APD so you only pay APD to the UK when returning to Jersey or Guernsey from the UK (Check out FlyBe Taxes JER - MAN - £11.30 and the return MAN - JER £29.10) Other islands in Scotland where air travel is considered a life line service also has no APD - exempted by the then UKs Chancellor Gordon Brown. Does IOM have to levy APD on journeys from IOM on aircraft with more than 19 seats? Are flights to and from IOM not a life line service? IOM does not have to charge this APD - the money stays here. Hospital transfer patients have to pay APD to the UK and to IOM. £10 per return trip for APD per person is large factor in the fare and as Karrellen has quoted an a trip to LPL the return fare Tax is £56 which will be £10 APD for IOM £10 APD for the UK and the remaining £26 going to 50/50 probably to IOM and LPL Airport. 'If you can afford to fly you can afford the Tax' was the cry when APD was first introduced, not much has been said from our new government when the increase in APD was adopted here. Air travel off and on the island is taken for granted by many and that there will always be a carrier, but unless the decline in passenger numbers month on month is addressed the whole business will decline. As an island we need both sea and air travel available to all at a reasonable cost. Reduction of APD to the previous level of £5 off the island or reducing to £0 would bring the cost of air fares back to a realistic level and stimulate the declining major routes IOM / MAN off the island. Do nothing is not an option. Reducing the IOM APD is not subsidising the Airlines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gags Posted August 8, 2007 Share Posted August 8, 2007 I absolutely agree - there was a mention of the government 'investigating' the doubling of the tax, but nothing further has happened as far as I know. I still dont quite understand how in 2005 the LPL base price was GBP32 and it is now GBP82??? (return inc all 'taxes') Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triple7 Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 I absolutely agree - there was a mention of the government 'investigating' the doubling of the tax, but nothing further has happened as far as I know. I still dont quite understand how in 2005 the LPL base price was GBP32 and it is now GBP82??? (return inc all 'taxes') Just booked an IOM LPL out Thu 16 Aug and back Fri 17 Aug £41 each way (£13 +£28 tax). Not bad for a weeks time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karellen Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 Agreed, but 215% tax on top of the fare is still outrageous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triple7 Posted August 9, 2007 Share Posted August 9, 2007 Agreed, but 215% tax on top of the fare is still outrageous. Yes the tax being near enough a fixed cost highlights the differential. If this is really a 'green tax' rather than stealth tax then for IOM it should be levied on all travel on and off the island and before a riot starts a tax of just £1 per flight and per person boat trip would recover as much as is being taken by APD. The airport charges that are passed on will have to stay but the more passengers that travel means that IOM airport could offer better deals. The way the numbers are tumbling the airport may in the future increase costs to break even. 'As an island we need both sea and air travel available to all at a reasonable cost.' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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