NewsWhore
09-11-2007, 04:40 PM
Airport Department Director Andres Vanderhorst says that the DR is the country that charges the most airport charges and government taxes among all international airports. Vanderhorst says that the excessive taxes and charges are making passenger and cargo fares to and from the DR exorbitantly high and harming tourism and exports.
He is concerned airlines will abandon Dominican routes. Vanderhorst added, as reported in Listin Diario, that efforts to make the DR competitive are hampered by the excessive charges.
He specifically mentioned, for instance, that it is illegal for Immigration, Customs and the Plant Health to levy extra hour charges on flights that arrive at the airports between 4pm and 6am. The director added that an airport that already operates 24 hours per day has no reason to charge extra hours.
Vanderhorst also favors that small private planes be exempt from fees. "For example, Bahamas receives 950,000 tourists a year that arrive on private planes because these are not taxed at those airports," he said.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)
He is concerned airlines will abandon Dominican routes. Vanderhorst added, as reported in Listin Diario, that efforts to make the DR competitive are hampered by the excessive charges.
He specifically mentioned, for instance, that it is illegal for Immigration, Customs and the Plant Health to levy extra hour charges on flights that arrive at the airports between 4pm and 6am. The director added that an airport that already operates 24 hours per day has no reason to charge extra hours.
Vanderhorst also favors that small private planes be exempt from fees. "For example, Bahamas receives 950,000 tourists a year that arrive on private planes because these are not taxed at those airports," he said.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)