The Dresden Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) has criticized the increase in the air traffic tax planned by the German government and fears disadvantages for Dresden Airport. "The airlines are already calculating with a sharp pen and are continuously optimizing their costs. If the prices for passengers increase, smaller international airports like Dresden will suffer the most," explained Thomas Ott, Deputy Managing Director of the Chamber and responsible for traffic. The airport is already struggling with the lower passenger numbers since corona.
According to Ott, the fact that the Federal Ministry of the Interior does not want to stick to the current price cap for aviation security fees makes matters worse. "An increase in fees for individual passengers of 10 to 15 euros may not seem like much at first. However, for an aircraft with 200 passengers, this would result in additional costs of up to 3,000 euros per flight for the airline, which it would either have to bear itself or pass on to the passengers." As private travelers in particular react sensitively to price increases, it is to be expected that passengers will switch to Prague Airport or other means of transport.
