Posted on: Tuesday, February 11, 2003

$3 tax proposed for flights beyond Hawai'i

Associated Press

Nearly all airline passengers leaving Hawai'i would pay an additional $3 under administration bills being advanced by the House and Senate transportation committees.

Hawai'i could get as much as $15 million annually for state airport improvement projects under the bill to tack $3 to $4.50 onto the airline tickets of most departing passengers.

It's money the state could have been collecting since 1990 but ignored because it also would have driven up prices on interisland tickets. In 2001, Hawai'i's congressional delegation obtained an exemption for interisland flights.

"Most all nations have this. Japan has it. They charge up to 10 percent of the fare," said House Transportation Committee Chairman Joe Souki, D-8th (Waiehu, Wailuku). "We're one of the last of the states, I think, to have something like this."

Although the "passenger facility charge" would be added to the cost of a ticket to the Mainland or overseas, Rep. David Pendleton, R-49th (Maunawili, Enchanted Lake, Kane'ohe), insisted it isn't a tax increase, which his party has steadfastly opposed.

"It's a user fee that you and I pay when we fly through other airports. It's part of the ticket," he said.

With the fluctuation in ticket prices, an additional $3 won't be significant, Pendleton said, adding that Hawai'i's 6 million annual visitors will be paying most of the revenue that otherwise would have to come from the general fund, supported by Hawai'i taxpayers.