据报道，爱尔兰将从2014年4月1日起废除其航空旅客税，以刺激旅客的航空运输需求。
纵览明年的预算，爱尔兰财政部长努南表示，适用于国内、国际旅客的航空旅客税将被取消，以支持旅游业的发展。
努南还表示，“我期望航空公司以此为契机，开发新的航线以及构建运输网络，从而帮助旅游业的发展。我有理由相信他们会这么做的。”
爱尔兰自2009年3月30日开始征收航空旅客税，最初依据旅行距离来计算，旅客的目的地距离都柏林300公里以内的收费2欧元，距离更远的需支付10欧元。2011年3月1日，该收费政策被重新修订，所有旅客都需支付3欧元的固定费用。
爱尔兰航空对于取消旅客航空税这一举措表示支持，其认为航空旅客税的征收削弱了旅客的航空运输需求，从爱尔兰整体经济宏观来看是适得其反的。
此外，爱尔兰航空称航空旅客税违反了欧洲的法律，正向爱尔兰政府起诉索赔6100万欧元。
Ryanair has said it aims to increase its traffic at Irish airports by one million passengers a year after the Irish government scrapped an air tax.
The airline said its move was in “direct response” to the scrapping of the travel tax, announced in the Irish budget on Tuesday.
The Irish air travel tax is three euros (£2.50) per passenger, per flight, but will be abolished from April 2014.
Ryanair said the abolition helped to “restore Ireland’s competitiveness”.
The tax was introduced at Irish airports almost five years ago.
The airline said that that during that period, “traffic at the main Irish airports had declined from 30.5m passengers in 2008 to 23.5m in 2012”.
The period also coincided with the international economic downturn, with the Republic of Ireland suffering one of the deepest recessions in the eurozone.
In a statement, Ryanair said it believes that much of the Republic’s lost airport traffic “can now be recovered thanks to the abolition of the travel tax, which makes Ireland a more competitive and attractive destination for inbound visitors, particularly those on short flights from the UK and Continental Europe”.
The airline has invited staff from airports in Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Knock and Kerr to meetings in the Irish capital on Thursday and Friday to discuss its growth plans.
Michael Cawley from Ryanair said they would discuss “how and where we can add new routes or additional frequencies on existing routes” from next April, in an attempt to achieve their targets.