Taxing time for air travellers

Karachi: While the time duration of air flights from Karachi to Lahore and Mumbai is almost the same, the taxes imposed on tickets for the Indian city makes a trip a lot costlier.
A Pakistan International Airline ticket for Lahore costs Rs5,560 including the Central Excise Duty (CED) of Rs710 and Airport Tax of Rs120. But a one-way ticket to Mumbai that costs Rs9,400 includes seven different taxes including Rs3,900 ‘War Insurance’ – the single largest component among charges and taxes.
And despite all these taxes government has decided to levy yet another tax on air traveling to foreign destinations.
When it announced the decision to levy 15% CED, the advocators of the move had dwarfed the issue saying: “For people going abroad, spending a few more bucks won’t matter”.
Government has exempted Hajj flights from the fresh duty but pilgrims going for Umrah will be required to spend Rs4,860 more for the ticket that will be tagged at Rs37,260.
23/07/06 Gulf Times, Qatar

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