Chief executives from airlines including Easyjet, IAG and Ryanair have again urged the government to axe air passenger duty ahead of Wednesday’s Autumn Statement.
They have warned that APD is “hampering” Britain’s economic growth, business and tourism, at a time when global business links post-Brexit needed to be strengthened, noting that its removal would boost GDP by 1.7 per cent and create 61,000 new jobs by 2020.
“APD damages the UK’s competitiveness and jobs,” said Willie Walsh, CEO of International Airlines Group (IAG). “It’s a revenue raising tax designed to suppress air transport growth which is exactly what the economy does not need right now.”
A4E said that other European countries have demonstrated the benefits of removing APD, with the Netherlands and Ireland both reporting strong passenger growth after scrapping their taxes.
“The introduction of a travel tax in Ireland in 2009 caused passenger numbers at Irish airports to collapse by almost 25 per cent, from 30 million to 23 million over four years, damaging tourism and inhibiting growth,” said Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryanair.
“Thankfully, the Irish Government scrapped this tax in April 2014, which resulted in immediate traffic and route expansion at Irish airports, where Ryanair has grown strongly, and an influx of high spending tourists to Ireland, with passenger numbers reaching record levels (from 23 million in 2012 to 32 million in 2016).”
Short haul passengers are currently being charged £13 for every departing flight from the UK, which rises to £146 for long haul passengers. This fee is set to increase to up to £150 next April.
“At Easyjet we are proud to help bring people to the UK and, like the Government, we want the UK to be open for business,” said Carolyn McCall (pictured), CEO of easyJet. “Removing APD, a tax on passengers that suffocates demand, would certainly stimulate economic growth and make travel easier and more affordable. There is so much evidence to support this in other countries.”