Travel campaign against aviation taxes
By Andrea Wren on Thursday, March 3rd, 2011

It’s been announced today that travel industry leaders have joined with ABTA to form the Fair Tax on Flying campaign, which calls for the government to halt further rises in UK aviation tax. While other European countries have axed such taxes completely to avoid a negative impact on their economies, the good old British government does the opposite, to the detriment of travellers.

Travel campaign against aviation taxes

Current costs for Air Passenger Duty

In the last 17 years, Air Passenger Duty (APD) in the UK has been increased by 2600% since it was first introduced in 1994, with UK travellers now paying disproportionately higher rates compared to other countries that impose this tax.

In 2011, the treasury is expected to receive £2.2 billion of travellers’ money, and stated that it intends to raise APD by a further £1.4 billion by 2015. Fair Tax on Flying says that a family of four flying from the UK to Florida will pay £240 in flight tax, and if they fly to Australia, the financial damage is £340. A French family flying to the same destinations will pay £15, whereas an Irish family will only pay £11. It’s a big difference.

Campaigning against aviation tax

Even though David Cameron identified tourism as one of five top industries to drive growth, APD as it stands has already meant many people, especially families, have stopped travelling abroad, with passenger numbers at main airports falling. The tourism industry is duly concerned.

Hoping to get the government to see sense, the Fair Tax on Flying campaign has set “Five Tests” of fairness which they have addressed to Chancellor George Osborne, requesting he take these into account in preparation for the March Budget.

But will Mr Osborne take note? And how can it be justified that the UK are paying what are, quite literally, the world’s highest aviation taxes? Campaigners are asking members of the public in opposition to APD to sign a petition.


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11 responses to “Travel campaign against aviation taxes”

Brian | 3 March, 2011 at 6:56 pm

Darren, where did u get those tax figures from?

If flying from Ireland u would only pay 11pounds that seems to suggest that the total cost from Ireland to Florida would be about 200 pounds cheaper. I just checked on Orbitz co uk and for a flight to Orlando from LHR iwas 624 and from Dublin it was 600 (tax and fees 264 & 263)

So even if the tax is as u say, overall cost is pretty similar

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Andrea Wren | 3 March, 2011 at 7:55 pm

Hi Brian,

The figures came from the data tables used by ComRes for the survey that was commissioned to find out people’s opinion on increasing aviation taxes, which will help support the campaign of Fair Tax on Flying. Here:
http://www.comres.co.uk/page184542938.aspx

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Brian | 3 March, 2011 at 9:02 pm

Thanks for the link
But if UK flyers are paying more in tax but overall the total cost of the flight is comparable to say Ireland (as my quick check shows) why is there not a bigger difference in the total cost of the tickets

Seems to me that the total cost of the flight is fixed and the UK Gov is just getting a bigger chunk of it

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Chris Thompson | 4 March, 2011 at 10:24 am

Is there not an argument that it’s not that our taxes are too high, it’s that those of other countries are too low? Another problem is that money generated by APD is not, to my understanding, spent on an enviromental issues despite governments trying to bill it as a green tax.

Aviation has a huge enviromental impact and yet aviation fuel remains tax free. Despite having worked in the travel industry for my entire career I firmly believe that air travel is too cheap. The costs need to reflect the real impact of this form of transport.

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Nick | 4 March, 2011 at 1:34 pm

Chris the goverment say it an enviromental tax… but the money vanishes in to the general pot. A point to note is that APD is down to the last Goverment.

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Pingback - Donald's Archive 2.0 | 4 March, 2011 at 4:41 pm

[...] There is, of course, a Facebook group, which has attracted “Likes” from plenty of respectable travel industry names, alongside the odd anti-all-tax nut and corporates with an obvious interest. [...]

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Andy | 6 March, 2011 at 8:18 pm

Ah, tax. My favourite subject. The reason we fly is to get out of this over taxed, over wet miserable country of ours!! And why they try to dress this up as a green tax is beyond any reasonable thinking persons concept. This is a tax. Full stop. If they were using it to purchase wind farms, solar panels or recycling plants that stop us burning fossil fuels I would believe it. Instead it’s used to bail out Multi Billion Dollar banking Institutions while the average Joe on the street now can’t afford to take his family on a two week break to that shiny thing in the sky. What do they call it?? Oh yes.. the sun.

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Sturla | 11 March, 2011 at 7:31 pm

This is an interesting topic. Just to hear what people think are much tax, I live in Norway and has an average income. I pay 39% of my income in taxes. Is it high or low in your world? Might also mention that we have collective health care system in Norway.

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Nick | 17 March, 2011 at 1:22 pm

Sturla

39% is hard to judge as most countries have a sliding scale. In the UK depending on your salary for the year you would pay between 30% and 60% (this includes NI). Lower the income lower the tax.

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Patrick | 1 April, 2011 at 11:44 pm

The UK government will never stop or reduce the air passenger duty. You are all in a dreamworld if you think they will. These taxes help bail our your banks and also pay for the countries debt due to mismanagement.

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Murray H | 2 April, 2011 at 7:30 pm

No problem with this idea. By all means tax air travel as much as you like…. BUT what should happen is that any tax paid is deductible by UK business, when travelling on business. Why introduce a tax on “doing business”? Why have a stealth tax on companies earning money for UK PLC? I believe we can be agnostic about the type of business – if it’s in the UK providing jobs for the UK and generating wealth for the UK – it’s deductible. Leisure travellers take money from our economy… so the comment re: Tourism and growth may – that’s may – not be in the correct context.

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