The Irish low-cose airline, Ryanair, lambasted the Italian government on Tuesday over new passenger tax hikes, saying it will now be forced to close two of its bases in Italy and cut 600 jobs.The company said in a statement that 16 flight routes would also be lost as a result of the “illogical decision of the Italian government to raise municipal taxes further”.From January 1st, the government raised taxes by about 40 percent (from €6.50 to €9) for each passenger departing from Italy in order to subsidize a fund set up for pilots laid off as a result of the merger between Alitalia and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad.David O’Brien, Ryanair’s Chief Commercial Officer, said the Italian government was “shooting itself in the foot”, especially after a record year for tourism in Europe.
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