Int'l air ticket prices to soar as double excise duty proposed

International airline ticket prices are set to go up as Finance Minister AMA Muhith proposed that the excise duty on tickets to countries outside Saarc be doubled. “I am proposing to revise the existing excise duty on air tickets, except for domestic flights and those travelling to Saarc member countries,” said Muhith while unveiling the proposed national budget for the fiscal year 2017-18 at Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday. According to the proposal, excise duty on air tickets to Asian countries outside of Saarc would rise to Tk2,000 instead of the existing Tk1,000. In addition, the excise duty on airline tickets for travel to Europe, USA and other countries of the world would be Tk3,000 as opposed to the current Tk1,500. In order to avoid any inconvenience for travellers, the excise duty would be collected at the time of purchasing air tickets.