I totally agree with you – living in Hong Kong i travel a lot in Asia and often back to the UK but only ever seem to be stung by extorionate duty in the UK.

A recent flight i purchased for my sister to come to HK of £400 contained £280 of taxes alone – crazy as it is flying is getting cheaper but taxes are rising way above lines of inflation.

Also noticed that in many cases it is a lot cheaper to fly from regional airports into Europe and then to US or Asia where they have lower taxes – is this really what the govenrment want us to do or do they encourage us to fly out of London??

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I think the new APD increase for longhaul would be particuarly harmful for some destinations that really need tourists to help their economy, thinking about the Caribbean islands as well as Goa, Kenya, Gambia . . .

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OK so it sounds like longhaul flights will be hit hardest meaning that UK passengers will be effectively encouraged to fly via Amsterdam, Paris or Frankfurt. That means even more flights taken, airmiles travelled, less tax revenue for the UK and major job losses at UK airports and airlines. If there needs to be an increase in aviation tax for environmental reasons then it should come from an EU level and there should be encouragement for airlines that fly cleaner planes and have high load factors.

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Longhaul flights are the hardest hit (now and in future). The current APD is a flat rate with different levels for European and non-European, and for economy and business/first. In November a new distance based structure is put in which means APD will be higher for travel to Australia/NZ than for travel to USA or the Middle East.

The APD is a substantial cost and certainly my leisure visits to UK have dropped considerably since it was imposed a few years ago (from a few times a year to once every few years) – instead I’m spending much more time in continental Europe.

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If APD is actually causing travellers to change their behaviour and not fly, then surely it is reducing greenhouse gases. Offsetting may give those that buy them a warm feeling in their stomach, the carbon dioxide has been produced and may take up to 100 years to be mitigated by some schemes.
Do some research http://www.cheatneutral.com is a fun place to start but also has a serious message and links to learn more about offsetting.

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I really must congratulate Alastair Darling on doing his best to ruin the British airline industry. In a year when most airlines are struggling badly due to recession, one would have thought he would have either cut or abolished the tax in order to stimulate business.

I travel regularly, and the amount of tax I pay each year on travel is quite ridiculous. For some of my long haul travel I now travel via Amsterdam, where the airport and airlines serving it must be thanking Mr Darling for his stupidity.

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Labour’s Increase in the APD for long haul flights is just plain stupidity. Is labour trying to shoot their own foot? I have for sure beein flying to Paris and catch an onwards journey to the Far East. Do this I have saved a fortune in APD itself. Perhaps Labour is behaving like the Communications Worker’s union for the posties. If they want the knife I will sharpen for them to hari-kiri. Poor thoughtless people. Can we see Brown and their cronies paying for APD? I quitye doubt it as we poor tax payers pick up their tabs!

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As with petrol prices – the actual fare/price of a gallon is quite cheap but then the goverment wants its piece of the pie and slaps more tax on. Even if basic costs reduce the goverment always find a reason to add another tax. Unfortunately there shall always be people flying than staying at home. With modern technology, conference calling etc you would think that businesses wouuld be reducing air travel but it would appear not and so the taxes are being paid.

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