Conservative Party proposals to impose taxes on aviation as a tool to curb emissions, have met with a chorus of opposition from the industry ” and government.
In a barrage of publicity, Tory shadow Chancellor, George Osborne, has called for a change ” realistically a hike ” on fuel duty and/or charging VAT on domestic flights, replacing Air Passenger Duty (APD) with an emissions-based per-flight tax and introducing a ”Green Miles Allowance” aimed at frequent fliers.
The proposals have taken up swathes of British press pages, with some attacking the Conservatives as wishing to put a tax on fun, while others have described the Tories as ”mad.”
”Our Greener Skies consultation sets out credible proposals for curbing the future growth of emissions from air transport,” said Osborne, adding: ”This does not tax people out of their one foreign holiday a year, but instead focuses on dirtier aircraft and more frequent fliers.”
Predictably, the Labour Party has struck back, raising the interesting question of whether or not airlines would simply import fuel from countries where tax is not levied ” leading to heavier aircraft and more pollution.
”The Treasury continues to believe that the inclusion of aviation in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme is the most efficient and cost-effective way to aid the aviation sector tackling climate change,” said a Treasury spokesperson.
”While this work continues, the government recognises that domestic measures can play a role in tackling the environmental impact of aviation and from February this year, it increased Air Passenger Duty, saving the equivalent of 0.75m tonnes of carbon every year by 2011.”
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