( CNN ) -- Plane passengers are used to paying for check-in baggage or priority boarding , but one airport in Venezuela is now charging for the ultimate hidden extra -- air . Anyone departing from the Simon Bolivar International Airport of Maiquetia in Caracas now faces a levy of 127 bolivars ( $ 18 ) to pay for a new air conditioning unit installed earlier this year , according to a statement on the airport 's website . The airport says its air conditioning system `` eliminates contaminants '' and injects ozone into the atmosphere to improve the environment and protect the health of passengers . It boasts that the system is the first of its kind in an airport anywhere in South America and the Caribbean . The `` breathing tax '' which came into force on July 1 and must be paid by all domestic and international passengers to airlines at check in , has generated bemusement in Venezuela , with many taking to Twitter to criticize the measure . `` While the stench of the toilets asphyxiates me ... they have started to charge 127 bolivars for breathing the ozone , '' wrote Vero ( @ VeronicaTorresA ) . Another , Chipopo ( @ ELvDav ) comments that whatever task the air conditioning unit performs , it does n't seem to include lowering the temperature . `` Maiquetia airport is 36 C , it must be the injection of ozone that makes the temperature shoot up , '' they write . Daniel Martinez ( @ DanielMartinezD ) , a radio presenter , tweeted his gripes about the measure . `` Could you explain to me the ozone thing in Maiquetia ? The toilets have no water , the air-con is broken , there are stray dogs inside the airport , but there 's ozone ? '' Several international airlines , including Air Canada and Alitalia have suspended or reduced flights to Venezuela in recent months , blaming strict government currency controls that they say have have left them billions of dollars out of pocket . Earlier this week the country 's air transport minister , Luis Caraballo Graterol , insisted in an interview that Venezuela had no debts to foreign air carriers . Built in 1945 , Maiquetia airport -- as it is known by locals -- is the main international air hub serving Venezuela . It 's currently undergoing a major overhaul , according to Worldtravelguide.net .
Venezuela 's Simon Bolivar International Airport of Maiquetia demands $ 18 for air conditioning . Airport says its new air-con unit protects passenger health and adds ozone to the atmosphere . People have taken to Twitter to question new measure , criticize other facilities at the airport .