Hike sparks angry reaction from airlines
AIR passengers will pay higher fares from this week because of a rise in departure taxes introduced yesterday in the face of angry objections from airlines and businesses.
The increase of about 8% in Air Passenger Duty (APD), which is paid by everyone departing from a UK airport, was branded a “tax on tourism” by the British Air Transport Association (Bata).
The increase will mean a family of four flying to Florida will have to pay a total of £260 in APD, while a family of four travelling to Australia will be paying a total of £368.
The changes were introduced as Scots families began their Easter holidays and two days after a deal was cleared that will allow British Airways’ parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), to purchase struggling a i r l i n e BMI from Lufthansa.
However, in a bid to assuage fears that it would give BA an effective monopoly over routes between Heathrow and Scotland, IAG has promised to give up seven landing-slot pairs at the London airport for rival airlines to fly to Aberdeen and Edinburgh. A further seven slot pairs will be offered for airlines to operate flights to other domestic and European destinations.
As the Treasury is intending to increase APD revenue up to 2016, air passengers are facing further increases that could push the duty for a family of four travelling to Australia up to £500.
The chief executives of airlines easyjet, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic yesterday joined Willie Walsh, chief of IAG, in condemning the latest rise.
They said: “APD rises again on April fool’s day but the public
It has become a tax on tourism, making it increasingly difficult for ordinary families to afford a summer break
should not be fooled again by this tax and the damage it does to them, to jobs and to the wider economy.
“We urge George Osborne to make APD the first tax to be examined under the Treasury’s new review of the wider impacts of taxation on the economy and to halt the proposed rise until this review is complete.”
Bata chief executive Simon Buck said: “It beggars belief that APD is rising yet again.”
“It has become a tax on tourism, making it increasingly difficult for ordinary families to afford their annual summer getaway. Here in Britain we already pay the highest aviation duty of any country in Europe. The Government must end its obsession with raising everincreasing sums from air passengers, which is pricing ordinary families out of the skies.”
A Treasury spokesman said: “The Government took action by freezing APD last year and we’ve always been clear that APD would go up this April.
“The majority of passengers will only pay an extra £1 as a result of the rise. As announced at the autumn statement, we are also extending APD to private business jets for the first time.
“It is also worth noting that unlike some other European
Picture: Gordon Terris countries, the UK does not levy VAT on domestic flights and aviation fuel is not taxed.
“The aviation industry will also benefit from the record low corporation tax that takes effect from today.”