Holidaymakers face a sharp increase in the cost of flying following a 10 per cent increase in Air Passenger Duty.The tax on holidays, to be imposed next month, will add £250 to the cost of a family of four flying to Florida and about £360 to the cost of a four-strong group traveling to Australia.
Visitors to Britain must also pay the duty on their return journey, meaning the tax could harm the important tourism sector in the Jubilee and Olympics year.Owners of private aircraft are to be made liable to pay the duty for the first time, but not until April 2013.
Airlines said the tax would price ordinary families out of flying abroad and could be the ruin of smaller tour operators already struggling to survive the recession.
The Government was accused of “burying bad news” after the Chancellor made no reference to the tax during his Budget speech and instead outlined the increases in papers released by the Treasury. In the past the Air Passenger Duty (APD) has been described as a green tax to put people off flying but the Government was recently forced to admit it is primarily a revenue raiser.
The Treasury hopes to recoup about £2.6 billion from the tax in 2011-12, up from £2.2 billion during the previous financial year.The announcement is a grave disappointment to holidaymakers, more than 70,000 of whom have signed Telegraph Travel’s petition calling for the tax to be scrapped.
In a joint statement, Carolyn McCall, Michael O’Leary and Willie Walsh, the chief executives of easyJet, Ryanair and IAG, respectively, condemned the Government’s decision.
“In the cause of UK economic recovery, APD is an own-goal and the Chancellor has just scored another one,” they said. “By increasing this tax by double the rate of inflation, he is further deterring inbound tourism and foreign investment, and choking off yet more job opportunities for young people.”
Simon Buck, the chief executive of the British Air Transport Association, said that the whole economy would slow down if people were not able to travel at reasonable prices.
“Passengers departing from UK airports already pay the highest taxes on flying in the world and this further increase will do nothing to support the Government’s aspiration to grow UK tourism and support British jobs.”Airlines are already struggling to cope with a carbon tax, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, which was imposed in January.
Visitors to Britain must also pay the duty on their return journey, meaning the tax could harm the important tourism sector in the Jubilee and Olympics year.Owners of private aircraft are to be made liable to pay the duty for the first time, but not until April 2013.
Airlines said the tax would price ordinary families out of flying abroad and could be the ruin of smaller tour operators already struggling to survive the recession.
The Government was accused of “burying bad news” after the Chancellor made no reference to the tax during his Budget speech and instead outlined the increases in papers released by the Treasury. In the past the Air Passenger Duty (APD) has been described as a green tax to put people off flying but the Government was recently forced to admit it is primarily a revenue raiser.
The Treasury hopes to recoup about £2.6 billion from the tax in 2011-12, up from £2.2 billion during the previous financial year.The announcement is a grave disappointment to holidaymakers, more than 70,000 of whom have signed Telegraph Travel’s petition calling for the tax to be scrapped.
In a joint statement, Carolyn McCall, Michael O’Leary and Willie Walsh, the chief executives of easyJet, Ryanair and IAG, respectively, condemned the Government’s decision.
“In the cause of UK economic recovery, APD is an own-goal and the Chancellor has just scored another one,” they said. “By increasing this tax by double the rate of inflation, he is further deterring inbound tourism and foreign investment, and choking off yet more job opportunities for young people.”
Simon Buck, the chief executive of the British Air Transport Association, said that the whole economy would slow down if people were not able to travel at reasonable prices.
“Passengers departing from UK airports already pay the highest taxes on flying in the world and this further increase will do nothing to support the Government’s aspiration to grow UK tourism and support British jobs.”Airlines are already struggling to cope with a carbon tax, the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, which was imposed in January.
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