Aer Lingus has written to Finance Minister Brian Lenihan, asking the Government to withdraw the air travel tax introduced in last October's Budget.
In the letter, the Aer Lingus chairman Colm Barrington said that the tax was inflicting serious damage on the airline and on Irish tourism, and may lead it to cut services next winter. Rival Ryanair has also regularly criticised the introduction of the €10 tax.
Mr Barrington said it was his strong belief that this tax was costing the country dearly and that the country was losing much more than the Government was gaining.
Aer Lingus had written two previous letters to the Government on the issue. In the latest letter, Mr Barrington says the situation for the airline industry has since deteriorated, with no signs of improvement.
'Our winter business is much weaker than summer and our advance bookings and expected returns for the forthcoming winter are significantly behind those of previous years,' Mr Barrington writes.
He goes on to say that the impact of the tax will have 'a significant bearing' on Aer Lingus's ability to operate a full schedule of flights as compared with last winter. Mr Barrington says the challenges are greatest on its long-haul routes, particularly from Dublin to both Washington and San Francisco and on all routes to and from Shannon.
