As Britain's referendum on membership of Europe looms, it is worth looking at how tax, some of which is set centrally, some of which is not, can affect business travel decisions.
Taxes and the cost of business travel occupy a funny place. They sit outside of the fare so are not affected by corporate rates, nor can they be raised and reduced at will by incredibly clever revenue management teams.
The fact that in themselves they are non-negotiable, however, is quite different from saying they don't matter.
In Europe some taxes, such as VAT, are subject to guidelines set by Brussels. Others, such as forms of duty, can be set at levels decided by individual governments.
Airport taxes fall into the latter category.
Such taxes are the universal scourge of airlines who understandably are frustrated by such amounts being unilaterally added to their air fares and thus exaggerating the consumer's perception of fare cost, not to mention the fact that they become a government's unpaid tax collector. Airlines feel a relatively high airport tax could divert business to nearby airports under other jurisdictions.
This is why a brouhaha has erupted over the Scottish government's apparent intention to slash APD (air passenger duty). Scotland might be part of the UK for purposes of membership (or not) of the EU but the devolved powers which the UK gave it in exchange for its squeals for independence mean it has the right to set its own duties and it believes that cutting APD will help its economy.
Airports in the north of England are unhappy at the thought that routes originating from nearby airports in Scotland might consequently have lower fares.
They cite the example of the Netherlands which operated an airport tax between 2008 and 2009. The tax was short-lived because the Dutch government changed its view on the tax after traffic at Schiphol fell and traffic at Eindhoven and Maastricht nosedived as passengers crossed the border for what they thought were cheaper alternatives. But then Maastricht more than recovered when Germany introduced a tax which saw its residents increasingly cross the border to use Maastricht to save a couple of euros on the fare.
The point is parallel to the one travel managers currently make about looking at the total cost of travel rather than focusing on individual items. An increase in tax rate might in fact lead to a loss in total revenues if volumes plummet and if volume falls, an area's economy could suffer.
Scotland considers tourism to be one of its main earners and so believes that any drop in APD revenues will be more than compensated for by growth in the economy at large.
The dynamics are different for business travel. Governments need economic growth to keep their citizens happy and that is an effect of business travel. However, as Ryanair knows, business travellers will not spend an extra hour — and extra ground transport costs — travelling to a cheaper airport.
Business travellers go to specific destinations at the times that suit their business so APD is unlikely to deter them.
It is just another non-negotiable cost of travel.
Passengers are not the same thing as business travellers.