Belgium’s federal government is increasing the air passenger tax on both long-haul and short-haul flights. The relevant legislation was passed last week. Airlines are set to pass on the tax hike to passengers. ‘The days when you could fly somewhere for 10 or 20 euros are truly over’ one expert told VRT News
What is the air passenger tax?
It is known as the TILEA (using the Gallic abbreviation for Taxe sur l'embarquement d'aéronefs), or in English: tax on the boarding of an aircraft. It is a tax that airlines must pay for every passenger departure from a Belgian airport.
The fact that it is a boarding tax and not a ticket tax means that it does not have to be paid if a departure is cancelled.
How much is the TILEA tax?
The TILEA already existed but is now being increased by the De Wever I government.
For a flight longer than 500 km, it will amount to 10 euros from 2027 onwards. Since last year, it has been 5 euros; before that, it was just 2 to 4 euros.
For a flight shorter than 500 km, the tax already stood at 10 euros, but from 2028 it will be 10.5 euros and from 2029 11 euros.
The fact that the tax will be slightly higher for short-haul flights is due to the fact that emissions on such flights are, on average, higher per passenger and per kilometre than on long-haul flights. The European Union also wants travellers to consider alternatives for such journeys.
Wouter Dewulf, an aviation economist at Antwerp University, is not surprised by the increase. ‘The federal government simply needs the money. And all things considered, the amount isn’t too bad, especially when compared to neighbouring countries. There, an additional tax of 20 to 30 euros is often added. Sometimes even more.’
Will travellers feel the pinch?
Definitely. Airlines will simply pass on the higher taxes in their ticket prices, says Dewulf.
‘The final ticket price naturally depends on many more factors. But the fact remains that such higher taxes, together with rising fuel prices, CO2 emission rights and higher staff costs, create upward pressure on airline ticket prices.’
‘The days when you could fly somewhere for 10 or 20 euros are truly over. Such promotions will, at most, only occur very rarely.’
Could the extra tax have economic consequences for the aviation sector?
Higher costs will be felt most acutely by low-cost airlines, as they naturally charge relatively low ticket prices. A small increase in costs therefore has a relatively greater impact on such tickets. ‘It explains why Ryanair is so vehemently opposed to the air passenger tax.’
In January, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary announced that, due to higher air passenger taxes, he would be scaling back operations in Belgium significantly. But a month later, that decision was already reversed, at least for this summer.
‘In any case, Ryanair will not be leaving Charleroi,’ reassures Dewulf. ‘That is its most profitable base in the Europe. But they will continue to make threats, in order to keep costs as low as possible.’