AIRPORT BOARDING TAX: VENICE IS TRYING AGAIN
The Municipality of Venice is not on board and is trying to reintroduce the 2.50 euro “tax” for all passengers departing from Marco Polo Airport.
For this reason, a budget change was approved in the City Council in recent hours with the aim of reintroducing it from 2025, despite the opposition’s vote against it.
Let’s recap the story: the surcharge was introduced at the end of 2022 with a resolution of the Municipality which had implemented a national law.
In response, Save – the company that manages the airport – and some low-cost airlines had appealed, fearing a decline in Marco Polo’s competitiveness compared to other airports and losses of up to 25 million per year.
And if the TAR had agreed with the Municipality, the Council of State then overturned everything at the end of May. How come? According to the judges, Ca’Farsetti had introduced it without examining other possible solutions and what’s more, with the Municipality’s budgets in hand, the motivation for the recovery of the municipal coffers appeared unfounded given the accounts were already quite in order.
As mentioned, however, Brugnaro is now trying again: the first step was the approval of the budget change. The final objective is to be able to collect the additional tax again which, the Municipality estimates, would bring around 15 million euros per year into the Venetian coffers, which is essential for the daily management of the city.
