Readers' Forum

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How can two airlines levy different taxes?

Stephen d’Alton is a weekly commuter between Dublin and London and a frequent flyer with Aer Lingus and British Midland. He has noticed “a massive disparity between the taxes charged by both airlines”. He says British Midland gives a comprehensive breakdown of taxes and charges, but Aer Lingus does not.

“I have requested a breakdown from Aer Lingus, but to no avail. To illustrate my point, I will give two examples of the same flight with both airlines. In these examples, payment is made with a debit card on all transactions.”

On the Dublin to London Heathrow route, Aer Lingus charges €33.89 plus an additional handling fee of €6, so total taxes and charges come to €39.89, he says. “British Midland charges €14.20 with no handling charge, so its total taxes and charges amount to €14.20.”

On the return leg, Aer Lingus’s tax, plus handling fee, comes in at €57.84 while British Midland charges a total of €37.19.

“Surely the regulatory authorities can effect an element of standardisation to enable the consumer to compare and understand charges,” he writes. “I feel I have been totally ripped off by an Irish company. I do about 30 return flights a year between Ireland and the UK, and this rip-off impacts on me to the tune of a whopping €1,380 in unaccountable taxes and charges. Is there any recourse? Am I entitled to a refund? Is this legal?”

We contacted the airline and were told that the taxes, fees and charges applicable to any booking are “broken down into all of their constituent elements in a separate page.

A spokewoman said that for all bookings, the taxes, fees and charges included in the total fare relate to Government taxes, charges payable by Aer Lingus to airports and charges payable to national aviation authorities. She said the “airport charges” element was made up of charges “levied upon airlines by airport authorities in respect of the landing, movement, parking, air bridge usage and taking off of aircraft at aerodromes, as well as charges levied in respect of passenger arrival at/departure from that airport.

“In the case of charges impsed in respect of landings, parking and airbridge usage which are not imposed by airports on a per passenger basis, Aer Lingus calculates the per passenger charge on the basis of the total amount payable by it in respect of such services and divides this amount by its projected passenger numbers on the route concerned to arrive at a per passenger charge. A similar calculation is made in respect of air and terminal navigation charges.”

She said that the per passenger arrival/departure charge was “subject to a price cap imposed by the Irish Commission for Aviation Regulation”. It is based on the “average revenues which an airport authority is entitled to earn per passenger from “airport charges”. However, the charge imposed by Aer Lingus and other airlines in relation to a specific route is based on the total actual costs incurred by the airline at the airport concerned. This will vary according to a number of factors, such as aircraft type, weight of aircraft, time on ground and use of airbridge.

“Accordingly, individual airlines’ charges may differ in this respect, in each case dependant upon that airline’s particular estimated airport related costs when related to estimated passengers departing that airport.” All clear now? Um . . .

Clap on the back for Vodafone

Some rare good news from a reader by the name of Cliodhna Guy who contacted us to commend Vodafone “for some great customer service”. Her sister went on holiday to France for two weeks and Guy lent her a Vodafone dongle for internet access.

“I forgot to check the charges and when I checked my online bill I nearly died when I saw my internet charge was €382 and that was only for the first week of the holiday.”

She rang Vodafone to get the details of the usage which she couldn’t find on her online bill.

“I was accepting that this was incurred by my sister and as such would have to be paid. An extremely helpful lady answered the phone and I explained my query. Without me having to ask, she advised me that having looked at my account, and as it was the first time this had occurred, Vodafone would apply to have the charges halved for me. I am now very thankful that I have stayed with Vodafone for a number of years and it will be a long time before I consider changing mobile phone provider.”

This is indeed good news although we reckon if she had haggled, the company would have reduced the charge by even more.