Originally published on businesstraveller.com 12/07/2012   RSS

Iberia says it will not ask customers to pay the recently increased tax for departures from Spanish airports, providing bookings were made before July 1.

The Spanish government increased the tax charged for departures across its airports from July 2, as the country battles with a huge budget deficit and recently introduced austerity measures.

Ryanair has already confirmed that it will pass on the increased charges to its customers, even where flights were booked before July 1, for travel after July 2.

The low-cost carrier says it will debit the cards used by passengers when bookings were made, unless they opt for a cancellation and refund by Friday July 13. The increased taxes differ depending on the airport, but examples include an extra €9.12 for intra-EU departures from Madrid Barajas, and €8.95 for departures from Barcelona El Prat airport. For a full list of charges click here.

But Iberia says it will not apply the charge to customers who bought their tickets before July 1. Iberia’s CEO Rafael Sánchez-Lozano said that “despite the company’s currently complicated financial situation, we have decided not to pass along the airport tax hike to customers who purchased their tickets before July 1. We will bear any additional costs relating to these tickets, to spare our customers”.

BA has also confirmed it will absorb the cost of increased airport taxes for any tickets bought before July 1.

For more information visit iberia.com.

Report by Mark Caswell