More information on BFS-EWR. Charles Duncan, Vice President Transatlantic, Middle East and India at United Airlines, who was speaking at 'The Big Travel Trade Event,' organised by Northern Ireland Travel News...
The United Airlines' chief said he was "very concerned" by the tax and the fact that a family of four flying from Belfast currently had to pay £240 in tax to fly to the US.
But referring to recent speculative stories in the local Press regarding the future of the Belfast-New York service, he said: "We have no intention of withdrawing from the Belfast route. We have invested considerably in the service and we are proud to be here.
"We are seeing some traffic move to Dublin because of the taxation levels in Belfast and we are having a tough time right now because of this. We are anti-tax and are working with our partners to make the case against this tax."
He said that the airline was "very concerned" at any fall-off in demand caused by travellers bypassing the country (Northern Ireland) so as to avoide paying the tax. "The problem we have in Belfast is one which we do not have in other UK cities, the likes of Birmingham or Manchester."
However, he ended with a warning: "We are very committed to Belfast but we won't fly a route forever if we are losing money."