APD campaign to target holidaymakers
ABTA is to lead a summer campaign to make holidaymakers aware of rising air passenger duty charges.
Among measures being considered as part of the campaign are handing out leaflets on aircraft and including them in holiday documents.
The leaflets would highlight the increases in APD and encourage people to put pressure on their local MPs to scrap them.
ABTA and other industry leaders have accepted that it is a fruitless task directly approaching MPs to drop the charges when they are currently embroiled in an expenses fiasco, the country is heavily in debt and many want to be seen to support environmental policies.
But they feel that the campaign may be successful if constituents put pressure on local MPs to drop the charges, particularly in marginal seats where MPs will need all the support they can get.
APD currently costs from £10 to £80, depending upon seat class and destination. From November 1, there will be four bands of APD, depending on mileage and those in economy will pay from £11 to £55, with people travelling in anything other than the lowest class of travel paying from £22 to £110.
by Jeremy Skidmore (www.jeremyskidmore.com)
Jeremy Skidmore
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