News: Airlnes slam revised Air Passenger Duty

Flights > News > # 1976 (25/11/2008)

British and international airlines have rounded on Chancellor Alistair Darling after he announced plans to overhaul Air Passenger Duty.
Darling, who had been considering replacing APD with a direct "per-plane" fee levied on airlines, has unveiled a four-band charging system which will see the charges on the longest flights from the UK rise from the current rate of £40 per passenger to £85 by November 2010.
Easyjet chief executive, Andy Harrison, said he is "dismayed," adding, "All parties agreed that APD needed to be changed to a tax on planes not people, but now the government has succeeded in bodging-up the reform of an already bodged tax. Darling has made a bad situation worse by increasing the burden of APD on hard-working families."
Virgin Atlantic Airways stated, "While hard-working middle-class families are feeling the effects of the recession, the chancellor has chosen to tax families that want to escape on holiday."
British Airways said it was "disappointed that aviation has again been targeted for increased taxation" and argued that the fee-by-distance plan would hurt its long-haul business, dealing a "further blow to the industry at a time when it is reeling."
US Air Transport Association president, James May, said, "This is an illegal action, which we expect to be settled in the courts."
Darling said he backed away from the per-plane fee because it "could harm the aviation industry at a time when it is facing huge problems," whereas the revised APD scheme would directly tax passengers for the environmental impact of their air travel.