Airport Operators Association Media Release
For immediate release - 28 February 2011
UK air travellers pay the highest rate of aviation tax in Europe – the Chancellor’s March Budget should bring rates down.
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AOA CEO, Darren Caplan and Chairman, Ed Anderson outside the Treasury – the chart shows that the UK has the highest rates of Air Passenger Duty in Europe.
The Airport Operators Association (AOA) today made a Budget Submission to the Chancellor, George Osborne. The AOA asked the Chancellor to take account of the fact that Air Passenger Duty (APD), the UK’s unilateral tax, has increased by between 140% for short haul flights and 325% for long haul since 2007 when he sets his March Budget.
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, making it more difficult to attract inward 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 in the absence of a global deal. However, as things stand, the introduction of ETS will simply mean that passengers will effectively face double taxation. We call on the Government to ensure that APD is reduced by an equivalent amount to the revenue raised by ETS. In this way we can help to ensure that aviation can play its full part in delivering jobs, export led growth and the rebalancing of the economy, within a framework of environmental sustainability.”
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For further information, please contact Luke Law on 07827 931480 or lukelaw@aoa.org.uk
About the Airport Operators Association
The Airport Operators Association (AOA) is the trade association that represents UK airports.
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