Susan Gordon, Business Reporter
Passengers in the crowded departure lounge of the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay. With discount fares the rage among competing airlines, travel taxes often eclipse the cost of the airline seat. - File
As much as airlines slash their airfares to offer rock-bottom prices to their customers, there is no escaping the travel taxes that, with seat sales, are greater than the actual cost of the seat.
The United States one-cent flights that were on offer by Spirit, for example, ended up costing more than US$100 with tax appended.
The charges vary according to the airlines and their destinations as airport authorities in each country levy their specific fees.
In Jamaica, passengers entering through Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay - one of two international airports - are charged an additional US$5 airport improvement fee, calculated in their tickets.
The funds are meant as financing income for the airport concessionaire MBJ Airport Limited, which is in the process of expanding the island's main gateway for people traffic.
More obvious fees
Airlines tend to separate the more obvious fees to be passed on to the passenger. These include departure taxes, stamp duty and a passenger service charge.
Even the experts in the travel trade are not fully familiar with the plethora of charges, which differ from destination to destination.
"It is difficult to explain what the taxes are in full to the lay person," Managing Director of Discovery Travel Pauline Stewart told Sunday Business.
The aeronautical charges imposed by the Airports Authority of Jamaica for the Norman Manley International and Sangster International airports include landing, parking, passenger service, security and loading-bridge charges, which must be paid over by commercial, domestic and international carriers arriving in Jamaica.
Paid at airports
Pointing out that taxes alone on round trips to North American destinations come close to US$100, Stewart said some countries like Jamaica allow the taxes to be quoted in the ticket price, while others arrange for them to be paid at the airports.
One reservation agent at Air Jamaica said there are other more technical issues involved in calculating travel taxes, some of which depends on the value of the ticket,the length of stay and destination.
Sunday Business tested the information by making requests for a breakdown of the travel taxes from various airlines on different occasions, and got a different set of price quotations each time for the same hypothetical reservation date of June 13.
Of the three more popular destinations for the Jamaican traveller, the greatest cost for travel tax is on the London route, but is it is also the least complex to calculate.
"London routes could see you spending as much as $30,000 alone on taxes," said Stewart.
To travel from Kingston to London, Heathrow, on June 13 for a week, BA said Friday, would cost US$773.44 or £389.64 inclusive of taxes for a one-way economy-class trip, while a round-trip costs US$965.66 or £486.47 inclusive.
The reservation agent said summer prices are generally higher and that booking via the internet could save the traveller US$40 or more.
The traveller to and from the United States pays a longer list of taxes, regardless of the airline used.
"I don't consider them," said a frequent flyer, referring to the tax charges.
"Once I can afford the ticket, I will buy it. The only time it occurs to me is if I pay for a cheap ticket like US$14 on Spirit and the taxes bring it up to over US$100."
For a one-way trip on Air Jamaica heading to New York in mid-June, travel taxes on the Jamaican leg include stamp duty of US$8.80 per ticket, or J$600, departure tax of US$14.70, a passenger service charge on security which ranges from US$7.81 to US$25 depending on the price of the ticket.
Airport improvement tax
Sunday Business was told by Air Jamaica reservations that this particular charge varies based on the availability of the space and is not applied to every fare.
The charge also relates to security checks of luggage and documents. An airport improvement tax of US$10 per person is also applied. This totals US$41.31 for the individual.
Air Jamaica would also have to add another US$28.05 in taxes passed on to it by the U.S. authorities to land passengers into New York.
This U.S. component brings total travel tax charges for a one-way trip to US$69.36 just for a week's stay in New York.
The U.S. component is broken down into US$15.10 for the United States international travel tax for arrival, US$7 for immigration inspection fee to enter the U.S. and US$5 for insurance service.
Total tax charge
A round trip on Air Jamaica would attract a total tax charge of US$91.40, with the U.S. arm accounting for well over half of the cost, or US$49.20.
The following costs are incurred: US$30.20 for the U.S. international travel tax for arrival and departure; US$7 for immigration inspection fee; a US$2.50 charge for enplanement from John F. Kennedy Airport; US$4.50 for security charges; and, US$5 for insurance service charge.
Passengers could also incur a passenger facility charge of US$3.00 to leave from New York but this charge, according to Stewarts, varies, based on the state from which one is departing.
Jamaicans pay slightly higher taxes if they choose to fly American Airlines to the same destination - some US$71.86 will be applied on a one-way trip and US$96.46 for the round trip.
The Jamaican tax component of the round trip would be slightly altered from US$41.31 to US$51.31 for American Airline passengers as the local airports authority would have imposed a tourism tax of US$10 on international carriers flying passengers into Jamaica.
Outside of this, the American Airline passenger would incur a lower U.S. international tax of US$14.50 or 60 cents less to arrive and depart the airport, but would absorb the US$2.50 in security fees, US$7 Federal inspection fee, and an AVIS user fee of US$4.95 for total taxes of US$43.45 on round trips.
The airlines that fly London only have three taxes to consider: An Air Jamaica passenger pays airport passenger duty of £78.80, international departure tax in London of £28.20 and fuel surcharges of £130 - which totals £237 or US$468.
The taxes are noticeably lower for home-grown British Airways passengers - US$403 on a round trip.
susan.gordon@gleanerjm.com
