Airport tax for domestic airfares starts May 15 [1]
Thursday, May 11, 2017 - 14:06. Updated on Thursday, May 11, 2017 - 15:52.
Tonga’s sole domestic carrier Real Tonga will begin collecting domestic taxes to be added to their airfares, starting on 15 May.
The airline stated that for every domestic ticket sold, a tax fee of of $11.50 pa’anga would be paid to the airport authority, Tonga Airports Ltd.
“This charge is used by the local airport authority for the provision and maintenance of all airports within the Kingdom, as well as air navigation equipment that is required to safely support all airline operations into and out of the Kingdom.”
The fee applies to all sectors travelled which means a return ticket to ‘Eua would incur an $11.50 fee outbound and the same on the return leg. This represents 12% of the ticket value. For Ha’apai it represents 5% and 4% for Vava’u.
There will be no change to Real's current fare structures. Tevita Palu, Real Tonga CEO said today that obviously this tax is an additional cost to the travelling public but it's a cost they must collect for the airport authority under the law.
The tax is made according to the Civil Aviation Regulations Passenger Service Charge.