Ryanair takes swift action on new Belgian Embarkation Tax, introduced as from today, 1 April

After the Belgian Government introduced a new flight tax, the “Belgian Embarkation Tax“, on passengers departing Belgium from 1 April, Ryanair immediately took action by informing its passengers and by charging them retroactively if they booked before 1 April (see e-mail below).  

Barely one week ago, on 25 March, the Belgian Government introduced a boarding tax for all departing passenger flights as from 1 April. For destinations less than 500 kilometres away, the extra levy is €10. Passengers who fly further away will have to pay an extra €2, €4 for flights outside Europe.

Just after the introduction, the Belgian Air Transport Association (BATA) issued a statement asking for a starting date of the embarkation tax based on the date of reservation, and not the date of the flight as taxes cannot be charged retroactively to customers who have already booked their flights before 1 April.

“In addition, this decision is legally questionable, as it does not follow the recommendations of ICAO, that as from the moment the official texts have been finalized and validated by the different instances (yesterday by the Parliament), an implementation timeline of at least 4 months is necessary to update the different booking systems and inform the passengers,” the Belgian Air Transport Association (BATA) added.

Ryanair didn’t want to await the legal procedure and took immediate action by sending an e-mail to its passengers departing from Belgium as from 1 April, the complete mail by Ryanair Customer Care: 

Our Ref: xxxxxxx

Dear,

On 25 March 2022, Belgium introduced a new flight tax on passengers departing Belgium from 1 April 2022. This means that even if a passenger booked a flight before 25 March, which is due to depart Belgium on or after 1 April, we must pay this new tax to the Belgian government.

This new tax is charged at the rate of between €2 and €10 depending on destination. The applicable tax in respect of your flight is €2 per passenger. 

In accordance with Ryanair’s General Terms and Conditions of Carriage (Article 4.2.2), and taking into consideration that airlines and passengers were not given sufficient notice of this tax, we hereby advise you that we will debit your payment card for amount of the tax due in respect of your booking ref XXXXXXX

Passengers not wishing to accept the additional tax have the option to cancel their flight and receive a full refund. Passengers must make use of their right to cancel their flight by 6 April 2022 or they will be deemed to have given consent to their payment cards being debited with the increased air traffic tax.

If you wish to cancel your reservation and claim a full refund of the unused flight(s) click on the link below and enter your booking details. Refunds will be processed in 7 working days back to the form of payment that was used to pay for the original booking.

Yours sincerely,

Ryanair Customer Care