COVID-19: $90 million lost in Airport Services Tax

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s government has lost around US$ 2,790 million by way of levies and other revenue due to the closure of the Colombo airport for tourist arrivals because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tourism Minister Prasanna Ranatunga was quoted as saying in a local report.

“With the closure of the airport, tourist arrivals have been completely disrupted and a huge amount of money owed to the tourism industry has been lost from March 19 to October 30,” he was quoted as saying by Daily News.

The tourism minister said that the country had lost around US $ 2,700 million that would have accrued from the tourism development levy charged from foreign tourists arriving in the country.

“In addition, the income which could have been made by way of Airport Services Tax is around  $90 million,” he said.

Tthe Airport and Aviation Services Ltd said it had lost Rs.1,779 million in revenue due to the closure of the airport.

There was an average daily loss of around Rs. 6 million, the mnister said.

However, he said the government is focusing on reopening the airport to foreign tourists as soon as possible under strict health and safety guidelines.