THE DETAIL is
very simple.
Nasheed’s Government
concealed information from the pubic for over two years about the impending ADC
that GMR was permitted to levy on departing passengers since the contract was
signed on 24th July 2010.
I wonder how
many of us know that all departing passengers from Maldives are already taxed.
Here’s what we pay now.
a.Every Maldivian Passenger pays an Airport Service
Charge of US$12.00 and in addition he
pays an Insurance Surcharge of US$2.00 a
total of US$ 14.00
b.The Airport
Service Charge for Foreigners is a bit higher, its US$ 16.00 coupled with the
Insurance Surcharge of US$ 2.00 a total of US$ 18.00.
This Tax is
collected by the Airlines that sell the outward journey from Male. The absolute mess-up of the economy and the
rise of the US Dollar from 12.85 to 15.42 with the introduction of the “floating
exchange rate band” the US Dollar is now available in the Black Market for Rf
17.50. Effectively, the actual Airport Service Charge for the locals translates
to Rf. 245.00 per passenger.
GMR in their
quest for more money is planning to levy an additional Airport Service Charge of
US$25.00, rebranded as “Airport Development Charge”, this bring the toll for
Locals to US$ 39.00 (Rf. 682.50) and for foreigners to a staggering US$ 43.00
What does
this mean? The GMR has the airport until 2032. To see into the future and the
kind of money this government has allowed the GMR to make from Maldives for
only the cosmetic changes that has been implemented thus far, we developed a
trend forecast of only the income of $ 43.00 based on actual data published by
the Ministry of Tourism actuals from 2005 to 2010.
The
Total revenue from Tourist Arrivals/Departures only that GMR will collect
during their contract period is forecasted at US$ 805,319,550.00. (Rf.
12,418,027,461.00)
International
Passenger traffic forecast published by GMR indicate a total passenger movement
increase from 1,000,000 in 2005 to an amazing 2,000,000 in 2010 with a phenomenal
growth projected at 2,750,000 in 2015. These figures projected to year 2032 shows
a staggering 5,416,666 passengers using the Ibrahim Nasir International Airport
only that year. The total revenue that
would be generated from figures forecasted by GMR totals to a figure US$ 881,562,500.00
Rf. (13,593,693,750.00) by the year 2030.
Airport
Development Charges and Taxes are not an alien concept in the Aviation
industry. However, such taxes are levied to fund ongoing development projects
or part cost of facility development costs. The Service Charges are usually
levied as a recurring charge, the proceeds of which go for the maintenance of
the Airport facilities. The Development charge has clear cut corners.
1. Airport
Development Charge/Tax is levied to secure part or percentage of the cost of an
ongoing Airport Development Project to be secured within a specified period for
time.
2. It cannot be taxed
for an indefinite period of time, like an Airport Service Charge.
This new ADC
the GMR plans to introduce in 2012 is a blatant disregard for Principles of Airport
Management and Good Practices.
