UK Campaign for a Fair Tax on Flying
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at 11:36 by VintageKrug.
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VintageKrugParticipantGreat to see a concerted and professional campaign being launched to highlight the iniquities of this invidious tax on business travel:
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Date published: 03 March 2011
——————————————————————————–Tourism Industry Unites to call for a Fair Tax on Flying. UK Holidaymakers Pay By Far the Highest Flight Tax in Europe. Two thirds of consumers think that aviation tax is currently too high.
The leading names in the UK travel and tourism industry have today announced they are uniting for the first time behind a campaign calling for a Fair Tax on Flying from the UK Government.
With fuel prices reaching record levels this week, the campaign is calling on the Government to halt any further rises in aviation tax, with revenue from Air Passenger Duty (APD) having increased by 2600% since it was first introduced in 1994. This year £2.2 billion of holidaymakers’ and business travellers’ money will pour into the Treasury’s coffers. The Government has stated that it intends to raise the tax by a further £1.4 billion by 2015.
The campaign is calling on the Government to halt any further rises in aviation tax, with revenue from Air Passenger Duty (APD) having increased by 2600% since it was first introduced in 1994. This year £2.2 billion of holidaymakers’ and business travellers’ money will pour into the Treasury’s coffers. The Government has stated that it intends to raise the tax by a further £1.4 billion by 2015.
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4 Mar 2011
at 12:13
Binman62ParticipantSURPRISE SURPRISE 2/3rds of those asked thought that taxes should be reduced!!!!!
You can get any answer you like if you pose the question correctly.
Why not ask if they would prefer to see a concerted and professional campaign being launched to highlight the iniquities of BA pricing ex the UK compared to anywhere in mainland Europe.
It is not taxes that are the problem, it is the airfare and when I can reduce the fare by 2/3rds simply by starting in AMS then there is a problem with pricing, not with taxation.
There is also a problem with fuel and other surcharges and whilst BA can charged 4 times as much in surcharges, on a club ticket than the tax, then I for one will not support a reduction in tax.
Deal with pricing and surcharging first, then we can look again at taxation.
Like most I would prefer taxes to fall but I rather like having schools, hospital, a fire and police srevice as well as libraries and an environment I can enjoy.
4 Mar 2011
at 16:48
PotakasParticipantJust a note here.
When you are flying out of AMS it is not only the price that you are getting reduced (which is fair as the price must be more attractive than the direct service) but also and the UK taxes that don’t apply to a passenger who is on transfer. If you want to see the price (including UK taxes) out of AMS then book your ticket with a layover which is longer than 24 hours. Then you will be able to compare BA’s pricing.
5 Mar 2011
at 09:50
FlyingChinamanParticipantI am very glad the British publics are lobbying to their government to lower or to stop the next crazy ADP increases, as in the last few years.
When it was raised to a level where enough is enough, I routed my flights to arrive LHR for my first business destination and hopover to a European city for my next leg and returning home from many of the airports on the Continent where they don’t milk the premium passengers dry! It is of no inconvenience to me and as a result the UK government have collected LESS ADP from me compared to the past. I am not the only non-UK passengers doing this.
But if the Brits want to have their hospitals,, police force and schools paid for by the ADP, let that be.
BA has to lure (or steal) the European passnegers for flying indirect routes and must offering a substancially lower fares compared to passengers from their home turf. One has to pay for the convenience service, and in this case through the nose. I feel sorry for the people.
BA only carries a small percentage of travellers EX-EU. London has the bulk of the business traffics. BA is not about to change that for sure .
There is a big difference between higher airfares for the UK-based passengers as they can always take another airline for a lower fare
There is no way to escape the ADP which applies to all passengers EX-UK!
5 Mar 2011
at 13:28
RedFlyerParticipantWell said FlyingChinaman
Binman62 – You are looking at this issue from the wrong angle. The collection of this stealth tax is by the inland revenue with the “Inland” being the appropriate idiom.
Apart from being an inappropriate method to collect tax revenue It is just plain wrong (and quite arrogant) that the UK Govt expects all foriegn vistors to contribute towards the costs of the british public.
Can you imagine if every other Govt in the world (and what would be the justification for them not too?) decided to apply the equivalent level of taxation on flights. Bad enough for a point to point journey between 2 countries but for those itineraries touching 3/4/5 or more international points it would just become unfeasable.
The German Govt has applied an emergency austerity tax but at least they have confirmed it is temporay and it is altogether much more reasonable maximum of EUR45.00.
No there is no defence for the Govt to apply this tax and it is high time it was removed completely.
Your issue of Pricing ex Europe is not new and is not going to go away. There will always be a need for airlines to provide ‘top up’ traffic from outside their home markets where they don’t hold the dominant position but that’s a separate story (thread)
10 Mar 2011
at 11:28
fiscalswParticipantThe double charge on any premium seat was a typical socialist jealousy. “They must be rich, so they can afford to pay more” was the attitude.
I prefer to travel long haul in premium for my health and well being these days, not because I am rich.
For my next long haul I priced leaving from Paris, and the savings were amazing.
Remove the inequity, or others may follow suit.
10 Mar 2011
at 11:40
ScottWilsonParticipantThere is no moral justification to tax aviation, as all of its infrastructure costs are recovered by other means. The only justifiable tax is an equivalent of VAT, but as other countries do not do this, it would be unwarranted on UK aviation.
Fuel tax on road transport is logical (albeit excessive) as a proxy for motorists paying for the long run costs of building/maintaining the road network.
Aviation doesn’t have this issue, so the appropriate response is for this tax to be frozen, and then abolished when there are sustained budget surpluses. It exists as an envy tax to penalise those who fly, it’s banal at treating any travel other than economy as “premium” so those who fly premium economy pay the same as first class.
10 Mar 2011
at 11:57
O.C.D.PParticipantDeath and taxes gentleman. Neither are particulary pleasant and neither easy to avoid. The major item that seems to be missing from this ‘professional campaign’ is detail of quite what the travel industry thinks should replace the current system and more importantly to George and the Treasury how they could replace the potential immediate loss of revenue.
I also hear this morning that the EU would oppose the per plane tax idea too, no doubt for some obtuse reason.But the fact remains the government desperately needs the revenue and unless people can add constructive suggestions as to how the government replaces this system without losing the money it generates then what incentive is there for them to change it. Purely moaning that taxes are too high does not seem them lowered.
10 Mar 2011
at 11:58
BigglessParticipantJust to stir things up a bit with a different angle on this one ….. the tax is still a relatively low percentage of the cost for regular scheduled flights so I for one would be more than happy to pay a bit more if it would cut down all the shell suited chavs blocking up the airport and keeping passports in bags etc.. causing delays. Nice quiet airports would be great! Also let’s be honest, it would be better for the environment if air travel was reduced ?
10 Mar 2011
at 12:16
RedFlyerParticipantBiggles – “relatively low percentage of the cost for regular scheduled flights”
Really? BA currently have a fare of £57.00 LHR-NYC. US cities sit in band B for APD which is £60.00.
I make that a relatively HIGH percentage of the scheduled flight fare.
10 Mar 2011
at 12:35
BigglessParticipantRedFlyer, apologies – I should have better qualified my post by adding fully flexible and/or business class. To be serious, I wonder why airports don’t offer a super premium experience for a price. Even travelling First through T5 the experience (OUTSIDE of the lounge) is not good. Particularly coming in from say the US and going on in domestic.
10 Mar 2011
at 12:48
RedFlyerParticipantYes Biggless – Well if it makes you feel any better from 01 April you will be paying a “super premium” price but unfortuntaley will be provided with the same current “experience”.
BAA puts their passenger facility charge up 40% from £22 to £30.
Still at least we can be comforted by the fact it is going towards providing a service that remains operational even in the most extreme circumstances!!!!!
10 Mar 2011
at 13:42
CallMeIshmaelParticipantInitialy was pro this tax as I believed (wrongly) it had a large green element to it. Where the train can beat or equal the plane it could be used to change behaviour, fund HS2 network building, and fund CO2 offsets
In reality it is revenue for the general kitty and could actually encourage anti-green behaviours eg Taking a hop to ex Euro.MartynS – Take a gander at 2.6.4 – it relates to upgrades – if there is a possibility of upgrade (60B springs to mind) then the full ADP appears payable.
10 Mar 2011
at 13:51 -
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