Helen

I shall move this to the Flights forum as it is an airport tax.

It is not unusual for taxes to be added retrospectively, ie after booking but before the flight has been taken. It was the same in the UK when APD was increased in February 2007. Any flights booked before December 2006 and not already flown had the additional tax collected.

However all airlines may not collect the additional Spanish tax as it is only between €1-10 and may cost more to administer so they will absorb it.

luci

TFS1 has posted this information in the Ryainair thread.

http://www.ryanair.com/en/notices/gops/120702-sp_tax_increase_en-GB

Clearly the spanish government want the taxes for flights booked before 2 July but not yet taken.

An updated version of the page I posted earlier is below which Ryanair now confirm they will be debiting the taxes from customers cards that they used to make the original booking.

Chris

http://www.ryanair.com/en/notices/gops/120706-sp_apt_tax_en-GB

Chris your link isn't working for me.

Sorry about that, all I did (I thought) was to cut and paste from the HT Ryanair section, I have gone back into the Ryanair website and the latest one added to my original post.

for ease the link is also below

http://www.ryanair.com/en/notices/gops/120706-sp_apt_tax_en-GB

Regards Chris

Thanks Chris

Apparently Easyjet are absorbing the extra costs.

absorbing the extra costs by increasing prices on the quiet for those who haven't booked flights yet !

Chris

TFS1 wrote:

absorbing the extra costs by increasing prices on the quiet for those who haven't booked flights yet !

Chris

...probably...which is what Thomson,Thomas Cook etc will also do......but at least you won't be presented with an invoice when you get to check in if you have already booked!! (Ryanair anyone?? )

Vueling has taken over at our regional airport, since the departure of BMI Baby. This is what it's owner has to say about the extra tax. http://www.abtn.co.uk/news/0617562-higher-spanish-airport-taxes-are-%E2%80%98almost-suidical%E2%80%99-vuelin

May I take this opportunity to thank all those Easyjet customers who have paid my, my wifes and our childrens and their families extra Spanish airport taxes on my behalf for all of our Easyjet flights booked before 1 July 2012.

Chris

I suppose that easyjet and some others are absorbing the cost now and will try to make up that shortfall by adding a bit more on flights that people will book from now on , so if you haven't been chased to pay the extra because you booked before July 1st then it's very polite of you Chris to thank those passengers who undoubtedly will now pay more to cover that shortfall

I see that the list of Spanish tax fees are mainly under 2 euros , with Barcelona and Madrid being the exception, so it's not really a problem having to pay a little bit more I would imagine for most people , I think easyjet had taken the approach that it's just too much effort to "surcharge" everyone for that small amount by either processing a card payment or having to collect the extra at check in , I did wonder if they would have the cabin crew going round with a plastic bucket collecting the extra off passengers ?
It seems much easier to " let it go" and absorb the cost and recoup the loss by adding a euro or so on future flights.
But then I see Ryanair is going to collect this imposed tax and it looks like they would make a charge on the card that was used to make the booking , so in most cases they would be typically be making a card transaction for 3 to 4 euros , and there is a cost attached to this because card issuers will charge a transaction
fee to Ryanair and apparently according to Ryanair the cost of using a debit / credit card is 6 euros , hardly seems worth collecting it !!! They would be losing money? Of course it doesn't really cost 6 euros to process a debit card transaction otherwise they wouldn't be scraping around in a tight fisted way to snatch 1.87 euros off their passengers .
Worlds favourite airline

I remember going to Majorca some years back and they had an Eco tax. From recollection it wasn`t a lot but was very unpopular. It was scrapped , after a drop in visitor numbers .

British Airways, Easyjet, Jet2, Monarch and Thomson will not charge passengers who've already booked extra, as they've chosen to absorb the cost.

luci

Got back from Malaga last night and got this in an email...... it looks like Bmibaby are going to fleece another 3 quid out of me for the flight home.

The Spanish Authorities recently announced an increase in departure tax on all flights leaving from Spanish airports on or after 1st July 2012.

As a result, the tax has risen on flights departing from Barcelona by £7.00 per person and by £1.50 per person departing from all other Spanish airports (or local currency equivalent).

If you made a booking with bmibaby on or after 4th July 2012 then your flight already includes the increase in tax. So no further action is required.

If you made a booking before 4th July 2012 then regrettably we will be debiting the card used to make your booking with the applicable taxes outlined above. We will start this process from week commencing 23rd July 2012.

Sanji

I quess it is the Spanish government that is actually imposing this tax which as they in a huge finanical crisis it is hardly suprising. I suppose British companys are thinking why should they pick up the tab for another Country's governments financial mismangaement and that is why they are passing it on to the consumer.