Airport Operators Association Media Release
For immediate release – 28 March 2011
The Airport Operators Association highlights massive increases in tax faced by air travellers.
The Airport Operators Association (AOA) today submitted a letter to Chancellor, George Osborne, highlighting massive tax rises faced by air passengers. Air Passenger Duty (APD), the UK’s unilateral tax has increased by between 140% and 325% since 2007.
Airport Operators Association Chairman, Ed Anderson, said:
“Our research has shown that passengers departing the UK can pay up to 8.5 times more in tax than the European average. Not only does this increase the cost of holidays abroad for families, it puts the UK at a significant competitive disadvantage against its European competitors, at a time when we need to be attracting investment from countries such as China and India.”
He added, “We support aviation’s introduction into the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in 2012 as the best way to deal with emissions from aircraft short of a global deal. However, the revenues raised will simply mean that passengers will effectively face double taxation. We call on the Government to offset APD following its entry in to ETS, so we can play its full part in delivering jobs, export-led growth and rebalancing of the economy, within a framework of environmental sustainability.”
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Note to Editors:
For further information, please contact Luke Law on 07827 931480 or lukelaw@aoa.org.uk .
About the Airport Operators Association
Who we are:
The Airport Operators Association (AOA) is the trade association that represents UK airports.
What we do:
Our mission is to see UK airports grow sustainably. We represent the views of UK airports to Government, Parliament and Regulators to secure policy outcomes that help deliver our mission.
Who we represent:
The AOA represents 72 UK airports and general aviation airfields in the UK. For more, see
www.aoa.org.uk
.