Ingvar rejects government’s Loftbrú subsidy change

Viðreisn MP Ingvar Þóroddsson opposes the government’s planned changes to Loftbrú, an air travel subsidy scheme, mbl.is reported. The change would replace a 40 per cent discount on airfares with a fixed discount of 7,000 krónur for each flight leg.

The government announced the change on its website on Friday, prompting strong reactions from people outside the capital region.

Þóroddsson said he had always been open to reviewing the scheme and considered a fixed discount an interesting idea, but said 7,000 krónur was too low. The average subsidy per flight leg was about 9,200 to 9,300 krónur, he said, though he was unsure whether that figure applied to last year or this year.

<p“If you move to a fixed amount and it is lower than that, then it is a cut,” he told mbl.is. A fixed discount of 9,500 krónur, he said, would be a different matter.

Þóroddsson said he had discussed reviewing the scheme during the last election campaign, as there were indications it pushed up prices. He would prefer a fixed discount of 9,500 krónur, but said he would rather keep the current arrangement than accept 7,000 krónur.

Asked whether he opposed the change, he said he did as it had been announced, but would be willing to consider it if the discount were higher.