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FACTS: Air Berlin has already decided to pass on the German travel tax, even though it has not yet been put in place. Southwest has announced (September 8th) traffic numbers.
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ANALYSIS: The airline said that 'in order to provide passengers, tour operators and sales partners with planning security, Air Berlin will start levying air travel tax through all booking channels in the course of this week. The air travel tax decided on by the German Federal Government on 1 September 2010, for bookings from 1 September 2010 onwards and applying to departures starting from 1 January 2011, will amount to €8, €25 or €45, depending on the duration of the flight'.
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Elsewhere, Southwest Airlines announced yesterday (September 8th) that it flew 7.1bn revenue passenger miles (RPMs) in August 2010, a 6.4% increase on August 2009. Available seat miles (ASMs) increased 3.7% to 8.7bn from the August 2009 level of 8.3bn. Load factor for the month was 82.3%, compared to 80.2% for the same period last year. For August 2010, passenger revenue per ASM is estimated to have increased in the 15-16% range as compared to August 2009.
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DAVY VIEW: Clearly airport taxes are inequitable and will drive traffic away from home markets, with Air Berlin, being a largely domestic German carrier, most affected.
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Southwest's unit revenue performance continues to be very impressive.
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