Anti-APD campaigners have won a major victory after it was announced that the subject will be debated in the House of Commons.
The Fair Tax on Flying alliance of travel companies and business organisations has been targeting politicians over the last few months through an automated email service which has so far seen 200,000 people contact their MPs to protest about the high levels of APD.
The subject of the aviation tax has now been given parliamentary time in the House of Commons in a half-day debate to be held on November 1.
MPs will debate the following motion, which has put forward by MPs Henry Smith and Priti Patel:
The motion calls on the Treasury “to commission a comprehensive study into the full economic impact of Air Passenger Duty in the UK and calls on the government to freeze Air Passenger Duty while this study is being carried out and to use the evidence from the study to reform air passenger duty so that it is internationally competitive and supports economic growth, investment and jobs.”
The Fair Tax alliance has been calling for such measures over the last few months following the 8 per cent rise in APD in April – with another increase scheduled in April 2013.
Luke Pollard, head of public affairs at ABTA, said: “This debate will be a chance for MPs to echo the concerns of nearly 200,000 people who have emailed to call for a review.
“It is time the government listened and commissioned a review – they don’t have anything to lose and a lot of jobs across the economy to gain potentially.”
The alliance has been trying to put pressure on the Treasury and chancellor George Osborne ahead of his autumn statement on December 5.
Henry Smith, who is MP for Crawley, said: “This debate is an important opportunity for MPs to voice their concerns about an issue that greatly impacts upon ordinary families, inward investment and the wider UK economy as a whole.
“I know this is an issue of concern for my constituents and it’s time for the government to listen to the people and carry-out a long overdue impact-assessment into APD.”