As an endless succession of statements, views and pronouncements on aviation taxation appears to grip the UK, easyJet has weighed in with its own opinions, calling some of the proposals ”daft.”
The carrier cites the recent Stern Review that forecast aviation would contribute 2.5% of global greenhouse gases by 2050 and that to impose unilateral tax schemes on international businesses would incentivise companies to work around tax regimes.
The unprecedented array of aviation tax announcements has now reached fever pitch, with politicians of every hue more than happy to train their collective guns on the industry, but easyJet is calling for a period of calm.
”There is a more measured and more efficient approach than simply asking people to pay more tax,” said easyJet chief executive, Andy Harrison. ”Air Passenger Duty is ripe for reform, but politicians must learn the lessons of history and realise that an island economy in a globalised world needs international solutions in an international industry.
Quite why the UK has lurched so suddenly into an obsession with aviation is unclear. A call to a major European operator revealed that, with the exception of Germany, green aviation issues are not the over-riding priority of European Union (EU) states.
”The industry is working towards the introduction of aviation into the EU”s trading scheme from 2011, which will provide financial incentives for airlines to operate the cleanest aircraft available ” this is the right way to balance aviation”s huge social and economic contribution with its impact on climate change,” added Harrison.
”Anything else just looks like meaningless political posturing.”