Sunday, September 19, 2010
October 1st, 2010 Brings a Change in Payment for Bonaire’s Departure Tax
Bonaire International Airport (BIA, also commonly known as Flamingo Airport) has finalized the process with IATA to incorporate the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC), better known as the airport departure tax, into the costs of the airline travel ticket and to have it collected by IATA on the island’s behalf. The effective date for this change is October 1, 2010.
This means that as of that date the PFC will be included in all tickets purchased for travel on or after October 1, 2010. The airport will provide a transition period in which the Airport Tax Booth will remain open for sale of PFC for passengers who do not yet have the PFC included in their travel ticket. This transition period will end around the middle of January, 2011 but will be extended to a later date if necessary. After this transition period, all travel tickets should include the PFC.
To assist with this transition, beginning October 1st, airlines will be utilizing the following protocols when checking in passengers at the airport: Passengers without PFC in their airline travel tickets (this can be verified at check-in) shall be directed to the Airport Tax Booth to pay the PFC. For passengers who have the PFC included in their airline ticket, the airline representative will need to confirm this in the reservation/check-in system at the check-in counter. The airline representative will provide each passenger with a completed form. The passenger should then present this form, together with their boarding pass and ID, to the Document Control Security Officer at the screening point. The Security Officer will collect the form from the passenger.
If a passenger needs a receipt for the purchased PFC, it will either be the passenger copy of the stub purchased at the tax booth or the receipt received at ticket purchase. Passengers who have checked in via the Internet and who can show that their boarding pass indicates that the PFC is included in the airline ticket and have no checked bags, shall proceed to the airport tax booth to collect the form before entering the screening point. This procedure is only valid during the transition period. (Source: Bonaire International Airport)
