TO TRAVEL
Minister of Finance Jan Jambon (N-VA) currently has no intention of going back on the doubling of the flight tax, which was given the green light in Parliament two weeks ago. He answered this on Tuesday to questions in the House Finance Committee, after complaints from various quarters. “As far as I’m concerned, that decision has been made,” he said.
Journalist at HLN
Source: Belga
The plenary meeting of the House recently approved the program law, which translates the budget into concrete measures. One of those measures is the doubling of the boarding tax or flight tax from 2027. For flights of 500 kilometers or further, you will pay 10 instead of 5 euros per ticket.
Resists
The Walloon government, including the federal French-speaking majority parties MR and Les Engagés, opposes this. And low-cost airline Ryanair is threatening to significantly reduce its offering at Charleroi airport, thus cutting jobs.
“Decision has been made”
Federal Minister of Finance Jan Jambon currently has no intention of returning to the doubling of the flight tax, he replied in Parliament on Tuesday to questions from Anders and Vlaams Belang. “As far as I’m concerned, that decision has been made,” he said. However, this does not alter the fact that parties who wish to do so can make proposals in the context of budget negotiations, according to Jambon.
A few weeks ago, the Walloon government spoke of a “formal commitment” from Prime Minister Bart De Wever to consult with the regions about the impact and make any necessary adjustments before the measure comes into effect. An adjustment must be budget neutral, was heard in government circles at the time.
“Either hypocrisy or amnesia”
Vander Elst criticizes the attitude of the French-speaking majority parties in the file. “It is hallucinatory that MR and Les Engagés doubled the flight tax at federal level and then just challenged the same decision a few weeks later via a letter from the Walloon government to the Arizona government. That is either hypocrisy or amnesia.”