UK won’t relent on “tourist tax”

LONDON – There was no relief for travellers in this week’s UK Budget with the government preparing to introduce its Air Passenger Duty (APD) hike in November.

Some 15,000 UK Telegraph Travel readers have signed the newspaper’s petition against the APD – a tax that is paid by every air passenger departing Britain and which has risen up to 325 per cent in just four years.

In a report by the Telegraph’s Charles Starmer-Smith, it was revealed that hidden among the Budget small print is the fact that a family of four travelling on a flight of more than 6,000 miles (to Malaysia, Indonesia, Australasia) will pay £340 in APD from November onwards – up from £80 in 2006.

For flights of more than 4,000 miles (Caribbean, India, South Africa) APD is up from £80 to £300, of 2,000 miles or more (Egypt, Dubai, United States) from £80 to £240 and of anything less from £20 to £48.

If a family of four wants a little more legroom on a long-haul flight and opts for premium economy, the fee rises to £680 – compared with £160 in 2006.

The European Tour Operators Association has given warning that London could lose its place as a main gateway to Europe because the “blanket charge” of APD punishes people for choosing to come to the UK (visitors pay tax on their return leg).

Starmer-Smith said the government had tried to pass off this revenue-raising initiative – which will swell state coffers by some £2.5 billion a year – as a green tax, but even the most ardent environmentalists admit it does little to help.

Airlines say that APD gives them little incentive to be greener or to invest in new technology because their passengers will be penalised just as heavily as those who opt to fly on carriers that operate old, half-empty carbon-belching 747s.

Giovanni Bisignani, director-general of the International Air Transport Association, says he wants to know where the money will go.

“How many trees will the Chancellor be planting with £2.5 billion? Padding the UK budget at the expense of holidaymakers is not sound environmental policy,” he said.

While rising oil prices may have forced airlines to be more frugal with fuel, some environmental campaigners argue that APD has deterred travellers from offsetting the carbon emissions from their flights; having paid the tax, they feel they are already “doing their bit”.

According to Trailfinders, a specialist in tailor-made travel, taxes and charges on flights to Florida have increased since 2006 from £92 to £215, and on flights to Bangkok from £80 to £203.

Starmer-Smith said APD may appear to be a real revenue earner, “but this does not account for the losses that will arise from falling visitor numbers, abandoned routes, lost jobs and airline failures, or from Britons hopping from the regions to European hubs such as Amsterdam, for long-haul connections to avoid hefty taxes on flights from Heathrow and Gatwick”.

Ryanair says that the increase in APD has forced it to scrap plans for new services in and out of Britain.

The airline’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, said, “Prime minister Gordon Brown’s tourist tax will see Britain lose over 10 million passengers, 10,000 airport jobs and more than £2.5 billion in tourism spending.

“While the UK keeps taxing tourists, Ryanair will switch its growth to EU countries where governments are welcoming tourists, not taxing them.”

Source: Telegraph Travel