Antigua & Barbuda Sets Administrative Fee to Replace Airport Passenger Charges

Antigua & Barbuda has replaced an existing airline passenger facilities charge of $25 and a passenger embarkation tax of $28 with a single airport administration charge of $75 per passenger, said Colin James, CEO of the Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority. Contrary to trade press reports, “We have not doubled the departure tax,” James told TravelPulse.com on Oct. 11. “These two taxes have been replaced with one airport administration charge which will be collected in the price of the ticket.”

“This charge is benchmarked in the midrange of similar usage charges currently being levied by other Caribbean airports,” James added. “The remote collection of the fee will greatly enhance the departure experience as it eliminates the need for passengers to queue to pay the old embarkation tax.” Indeed Antigua’s V.C. Bird Airport is “outdated and cramped,” James said, and the administrative fee will “support the new enhanced facilities and services that will be available to our visitors with the brand new airport in early 2014,” currently under construction on a site adjacent to the current airport.

Antigua & Barbuda has granted exemptions on the increased administrative fee for bookings made prior to Sept. 21 for travel after Nov. 1, said James, “to allow for seamless implementation with our travel partners.”

http://www.travelpulse.com/antigua-barbuda-sets-administrative-fee-to-replace-airport-passenger-charges.html