Matthew Vella
As travellers get ready to say goodbye to the dreaded departure tax, those who cancelled their flights during October with low-cost airline Ryanair may not get much joy.
Passengers flying out of Malta no longer have to pay the €23 departure tax, after the European Commission declared the tax discriminatory as it was only charged on passengers originating from Malta.
But if passengers cancelled a recent Ryanair flight, a refund on your government tax is just not worth the trouble.
Government taxes are the only portion of taxes, fees and charges which are refundable, according to Ryanair policy. Only you do not get it automatically if you cancel a flight.
Government tax refunds are subject to Ryanair’s administration fee of £15 (€19), which is only slightly lower than Malta’s €23 departure tax.
If the refund amount due to the customer is less than the administration charge, no refund is made. In the case of Maltese passengers who want their tax refund, they only stand to get back a measly €4 after paying Ryanair the administration charge.
Additionally, government tax refund requests must also be made within one month from the booked travel date, which means Ryanair will not entertain tax refunds for flights booked before 10 October as from tomorrow.
National airline Air Malta’s conditions of carriage states that travellers are entitled to a refund of the amount of the fare paid, less any reasonable service charges or cancellation fees.
Refund requests are subject to a €25 processing fee per passenger. Furthermore, a cancellation fee equivalent to 20% of the fare paid applies.

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