APD hikes create discontent amongst public and airlines

As Air Passenger Duty is set to rise next week, a new survey reveals that most people believe it is time to reform the travel tax.

From November 1, the APD bill for a family of four flying to the Caribbean will rise from £160 to £200 and from November 2010 that will rise again to £300.

The tax hike affects both short haul and long travellers, is worked out according to distance of flight (there are four bands) and is higher still if travelling in premium classes.

The YouGov survey of just under 2000 adults, published today and commissioned by Easyjet, highlights the fact that private jets, cargo planes and foreign passengers are exempt from the charge. It also underlines that environmentally, the tax does not work as empty planes that fly are raising less revenue that full ones.

The survey showed that four fifths of the population agreed that all flights should be taxed however 69% said the toll should be arranged so that it tackles climate change. Some 65% thought that foreign transfer passengers should pay the fee too.

The government pledged to reform APD into an emission based flight tax in 2007 but later changed its mind.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh hit out at the government this week over the APD issue. He told journalists on BA’s inaugural daily non-stop service to Las Vegas this week that the hike would traumatise the aviation industry at a time when it was suffering badly and called on the government to think again about APD.

Easyjet chief executive Andy Harrison was also highly critical of the government’s actions on APD. He said: “Air Passenger Duty is a daft tax that the government promised to reform. It broke its promise and increased the tax burden on the average family instead.

“People don’t understand why their tax is going up again while pampered fat cats on private jets, cargo planes and foreign transfer passengers still don’t pay any tax at all. How can the government justify a tax break for 20 million foreign transfer passengers while charging a British family of four ₤44 to go to Europe?

“We need to make air tax greener and fairer now. It should be reformed from a poll tax into a flight tax that taxes emissions, not families.”

APD rises:

 

Distance to capital city from London	From Nov 2009 Economy/Premium	From Nov 2010 Economy/Premium
Band A (less than 2000 m)	£11/£22	£12/£24
Band B (2001m – 4000m)	£45/£90	£60/£120
Band C (4001m – 6000m)	£50/£100	£75/£150
Band D (6001m+)	£55/£110	£85/£170