EasyJet is also concerned about the position of transfer passengers in the new aviation policy. The budget flyer states that this group of travelers at Schiphol provides a disproportionately small part of the wealth in the Netherlands and wants the government to take this into account. Transfer passengers do not fall under the flight tax that the government wants to introduce in 2021.
Earlier, the Irish counterpart Ryanair said about the same. He referred to the decision not to include transfer passengers in the air passenger tax as a disguised state aid to KLM. The largest Dutch airline carries relatively more transferers than budget airlines such as Ryanair or easyJet.
EasyJet argues for a flight tax that does not apply per ticket, like the proposed flight tax, but per flight movement. The budget flyer believes that this means “more efficient flying receives a reward and the burden is fairly shared between all users of Schiphol”. According to research commissioned by EasyJet, the transferers would only contribute 10 percent to the prosperity of Schiphol, while they account for almost 40 percent of all flight movements.
Maurice Esma, a co-founder of EconomicInform is a freelance journalist with the expertise in international finance and corporate rights. The author can be reached by email maurice.eisma@economicinform.com
