Thomsonfly resist calls for green tax
Thomsonfly will resist any calls for an environment tax after claiming the public will not tolerate another hike in air fares.
Commercial director Guy Stephenson, addressing TravelMole’s travel industry question time, said passengers’ willingness to pay for a green tax was “debatable.”
And if they don’t, the carrier could be forced to swallow millions of pounds, he said.
“The idea that the customer is always willing to pay is debatable. I believe the vast majority would not want to pay for this sort of thing,” said Stephenson.
“We carry four million passengers and if customers are not prepared to pay, even at £1 per passenger, would we have to absorb a cost of £4 million.”
He stressed the airline supported sustainable aviation had made strides in reducing emissions.
Cheapflights chief executive David Soskin described the aviation industry as the “whipping boys” of the environment.
“A tax would have a knock-on effect for less affluent travellers,” he said.
But Climate Care director Tom Morton predicted a tax “across the board” would have little or no impact.
“The demand for aviation would still be there,” he said. “We’ve not seen a drop a demand for long haul travel despite the fuel surcharges and I don’t believe a environment tax would result in reduced demand.”
Morton added that a tax was not the best way to protect the environment, preferring an emissions reduction scheme.
“Regulation is coming,” he added. “It will be here in five to 10 years.”
Report by Steve Jones
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