Passengers to be hit with airport 'tax'

Kuwait airport handles around six million passengers a year. (Getty Images)

All passengers travelling through Kuwait International Airport are to be charged an additional fee to pay for heightened security measures at the airport.

Travellers will have to shell out a ‘security fee’ of between 75 cents and $1.25 every time they either arrive at or depart from the airport, national daily Kuwait Times reported on Monday quoting local media, without specifying when the charge will come into effect.

The money, which will be collected by the airlines, will go towards the cost of a new $1 million security system Kuwait's Public Authority for Civil Aviation (PACA) is installing at the airport, which can currently handle six million passengers a year.

The systems will allow data about passengers and luggage to be made available to staff at a traveller’s destination airport as soon as a boarding pass is issued at the airport the person sets out from.

PACA has already signed a seven-year contract with an undisclosed company to provide the service and the equipment required for the security system is being prepared at the moment.

The measures being introduced by PACA are in line with passenger information sharing systems being installed at airports around the world following the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The US has been pushing for countries to implement these systems in an effort to better screen passengers, which the country says is important in its war on terrorism.

Print | Email | Discuss this article |

USER COMMENTS (2 COMMENTS)

POST A COMMENT

Security Tax at Kuwait Airport
Posted by Riccardo Arturo on Tuesday 18 September 2007 at 16:00 UAE time

Since it is the US that is pushing for countries to implement these systems in an effort to better screen passengers, it is the US that should bear such costs - not the passengers, most of whom are under the minimum wage!

Passengers to be hit with airport 'tax' in Kuwait.
Posted by Hombil, Muscat, Oman on Monday 17 September 2007 at 15:00 UAE time


Today it is Kuwait, tomorrow it can be any other country imposing such taxes. As it is, when you fly a low fare airline, you end up paying more taxes than the actual fare. Passengers are now at the mercy of either the airlines or the airports. 
 
KLM has just announced Muscat/Amsterdam flight via Kuwait, starting Dec 2007. They will have to think again to use Kuwait as transit.

CLICK HERE TO POST A COMMENT

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Security Code *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.