The Danish government said on Thursday it aims to abolish airport passenger taxes at Copenhagen Airport despite having said earlier it deemed other tax cuts more important.
Speaking at an air traffic conference in Copenhagen, Jens Rohde, the political spokesman for the government's coalition partner liberal party, said his party would press for a reduction of the tax in current budget negotiations.
"I can't find a single reason why we should keep the tax. It should be abolished as soon a possible," said Rohde.
The liberal's coalition partner, the conservative party, and government supporters Dansk Folkeparti are also in favor of a tax reduction.
"We conservatives won't be the ones to stop a removal of the passenger fee," traffic minister Flemming Hansen told the conference.
The tax of DKK75 Danish kroner (USD$13) per passenger departure gives Denmark tax revenues of DKK500 million (USD$86.6 million) annually but the tax and overall cost at Copenhagen's Kastrup Airport have been criticized by airlines.
In August, British low-cost carrier easyJet said it would cut services between Copenhagen and two cities in Britain because of the high costs at Kastrup.
Kastrup is a hub for Scandinavian airline SAS.
(Reuters)
Cheers,
White Cap
