I have just returned from a trip to Norway, which by the way I found very very expensive, where I travelled on a commercial flight both ways. However what I have pasted below seems to me a really bad precedent for any government to start backdating taxes. I appreciate this is just for commercial passengers, or so it seems, but it may well apply to GA now or soon.
Quote__Dear Customer,__
From 1 June 2016, the Norwegian Parliament introduced a new air passenger tax of 80 kroner (NOK) for anyone travelling from a Norwegian airport. For domestic flights within Norway, an additional 8 kroner (NOK) in VAT will also apply. The air passenger tax will not apply from Svalbard and for children under 2 years of age.
You can read more about the new tax here: http://www.skatteetaten.no/en/Radgiver/Rettskilder/rundskriv-retningslinjer-og-andre-rettskilder/rundskriv/rundskriv-om-innforing-av-flypassasjeravgift/
The Norwegian Parliament has chosen to impose the new tax retrospectively for all flights departing from 1 June 2016. In light of this, we’re sorry to inform that we are obliged to collect this tax for the booking you have already made with us. The entire amount will be collected by the Norwegian Treasury, and not Norwegian.
Payment options:• Pay by credit card online within 1 August 2016. No additional fees apply.
• If you do not pay by credit card within 1 August 2016, you’ll automatically receive an invoice. Please note that in order to cover the cost for the invoice, an additional charge of 1 EUR will apply.
The entire airline industry has worked very hard to prevent the introduction of this air passenger tax, and
we must again sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused.
Kind regards, Norwegian
Quote
Other governments will be watching to see if this sticks!
I guess all norwegian will pay, no foreigners.
Fenland_Flyer wrote:
I have just returned from a trip to Norway, which by the way I found very very expensive, where I travelled on a commercial flight both ways. However what I have pasted below seems to me a really bad precedent for any government to start backdating taxes.
As far as I understand from the linked web page (did you read it?), the government has not backdated the tax — the airline has! The legislation was introduced in December last year, to come into effect April 1st this year, but it was delayed until June 1st because it was uncertain that the tax was compatible with the conditions of the EES treaty.
The tax is levied on the airlines, not the passengers. So apparently Norwegian decided to not add the tax to the fares for flights to be made after the introduction of the tax. Possibly because they speculated that the tax would be considered incompatible with the EES treaty or — more likely — because they wanted to advertise as low fares as possible. Then when the tax went into effect, they decided to retroactively charge their passengers.
It is possible that the sales contract for the tickets allow them to to this — otherwise I would simply refuse to pay. But it is really bad form to put the blame on the Norwegian government when it is the airline that is actually doing the backdating
Fenland_Flyer wrote:
but it may well apply to GA now or soon.
No. Not that the tax is not pure nonsense, but no. It has nothing to do with GA, it’s an airline tax.
pmh wrote:
Poker game Norway – Ryan Air
Ryan Air was going to leave anyway. The tax was just an excuse to leave with a bang. It’s actually quite funny. No one wanted Ryan Air there in the first place. But because of the rather strong opposition to this tax, Ryan Air suddenly became the “good guy”
Also, if Norwegian continue to p!as off passengers like they have done lately, with multiple cancellations and this tax thing, they will soon be out of business.
The more these a-holes play this game, the more we’ll all fly our own planes everywhere! 
I honestly think the airline industry has virtually no future in the long run. Here in the US it’s almost torture with all the security checks, TSA, delays, godforsaken hub system preventing you from going anywhere direct etc. Self flying electric VTOL planes will be in every garage eventually.
