Cooper warns of impact of APD rises
Thursday, 29 May, 2009
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ABTA director of development Andy Cooper has warned the proposed rise in Air Passenger Duty will have a major impact on some popular destinations.
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.
From Nov 1 2010, the fares will rise again, with a maximum APD, for example for those travelling to Australia in anything other than economy, of £170 per person.
Cooper, who is spearheading an ABTA-led campaign against the rises (see separate story), said they would have a serious impact on certain countries.
“Most of Europe is in band A so people would pay the lowest rate of APD, but Egypt is in band B, so it will cost more to fly there,” he said.
“If hoteliers in Egypt want to still attract tourists, they may have to cut rates, so we could have a reverse Robin Hood situation where Egypt is subsidising the UK. It is perverse.”
He also pointed out that economy plus passengers would be badly hit because they are classified as higher paying passengers and will be charged the maximum rate.
The bulk of premium economy traffic is to the Caribbean and those seats will incur a charge of £150 APD from Nov 1 2010 – or £600 for a family of four.
“The government’s perception is that people travelling to the Caribbean are rich, but that’s not necessarily the case. Families on a budget go to the Dominican Republic because it is great value,” he said. "They may not be able to go in future, which would be very damaging for the destinations.
“It will also badly affect the VFR market to the Caribbean and Asia and the incoming traffic to the UK, because travellers will have to pay the charge when they fly out of the UK, which is already an expensive destination.”
Cooper said the environmental argument for an increase in APD was “arrant nonsense”.
“The extra money will go into the general coffers. Also APD is measured from capital city to capital city, so for the US, it is from London to Washington. On that basis, you can fly to Hawaii for a lesser charge than flying to the Caribbean, which is crazy.”
ABTA is campaigning for the charges to remain unchanged.
by Jeremy Skidmore (www.jeremyskidmore.com)
Jeremy Skidmore
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