The budget low-fare-high-fee airline Ryanair has hit out at a new aviation tax proposal from the Dutch government.
The airline headed by the aggressive Michael O'Leary, which claims to be Europe’s greenest, cleanest airline, condemned the Dutch Government’s proposed National Aviation Tax, scheduled for a possible introduction during 2021. The levy applies to passengers on direct flights to the Netherlands.
The tax exempts transfer passengers at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, which is the home base of KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. Ryanair fire the assertion that the exemption is a form of state aid to the airline. The budget carrier didn't stop there, it further attacked KLM claiming that it operated older, half empty, less fuel-efficient aircraft than Ryanair and "the new tax rewards KLM’s environmental inefficiency!" In typical Ryanair fashion, the truth isn't something they always use in communicating with passengers, KLM's load Factor for April was 90.1% which, is less than 6% below Ryanair's reported load factor for April, not exactly half empty by any interpretation.
But Ryanair doesn't just condemn KLM or the Dutch government, it also criticises anyone who doesn't fly with them and chooses to fly with KLM instead, asserting they are "environmentally inefficient.".
Ryanair’s Kenny Jacobs said: “This Dutch Aviation Tax has nothing to do with the environment, it’s just another state subsidy to KLM. If the Dutch Government are serious about the environment then it should apply environmental taxes to the biggest polluter which is those passengers taking 2 connecting flights at Schiphol on older aircraft, and instead, levy lower taxes on environmentally efficient airlines carrying passengers on direct flights on newer aircraft to/from the Netherlands”.
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