Caribbean Governments Urged to Ease Airline Taxation

International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Cyriel Kronen-burg wants Caribbean governments to eliminate surcharges, implement independent economic regulations and adopt a regional approach to the aviation industry.

The aviation expert, who was speaking at the first Tourism Outlook Seminar at the Hilton Kingston hotel, New Kingston, on Wednesday, said the airline industry was a key economic contributor, but Caribbean governments were prescribing taxes on airlines operating in the region. Cruise lines, on the other hand, he said, paid little or no taxation at all.

This is the second call that the IATA executive has made in a month regarding measures that must be taken to make the Caribbean competitive in the aggressive marketplace.

Noting that air transport was critical to the Caribbean and Latin America, he implored the authorities not to burden airlines flying into the region with an overdose of taxation.

The $450 billion industry, which supports a $2.9 trillion economic activity, is responsible for providing 570,000 direct jobs and contributes over $20 billion to the region’s GDP, yet remains an industry in crisis since 2001, said Kronenburg.