• Dutch abandon air ticket tax

    The Dutch government is abandoning the aviation ticket tax it introduced last July.

    The tax, which adds €11.25 to a European ticket and €45 to longer journeys, will stop on its first anniversary on 1 July this year.

    Dutch tour operators claimed it cost the economy more than it brought in, and while this claim was heavily criticised as being flawed, the coalition government used it as a reason for abandoning the tax when it announced a package of measures to combat the current economic downturn.