The Government is set to earn an additional 166 million euros this year from Alicante Airport alone after a decision was taken to increase airport taxes by 4.09 percent as of 1 March. The announcement was made by the Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, on Thursday.
The rate increase that has been proposed will be equivalent to forty cents per passenger, which would go from the current 9.95 euros to 10.35 per traveller, paid for by the airlines.
The announcement was opposed by the tourism sector, which has already expressed its fear that any increase in rates will mean a loss of competitiveness for the region. “If the rates for the airlines are raised, it is clear that they will pass them on to the passengers in the ticket prices,” the president of the Benidorm hotel association, Hosbec, Fede Fuster, told the local media.
Aena, however, stressed that their 2024 rate will continue to be lower than that paid back in 2019 and which is the most competitive in Europe.
The minister, meanwhile, said that the accumulated CPI since 2019 is 15%, adding that airport taxes had not increased in the last four years, and they would still remain below those of 2019 despite the increase.
