The boss of UK travel association ABTA has called on the new British government to freeze the current rate of Air Passenger Duty (APD) to help the sector continue its recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
ABTA’s chief executive Mark Tanzer praised the “amazing resilience” of the UK travel industry during his speech to the association’s 2022 convention in the Moroccan city of Marrakech.
“We’re not out of this thick wood yet, but I think that we should be proud of the speed with which the travel industry has managed to bounce back operationally,” said Tanzer.
But he pointed out that higher interest rates and rising energy bills would put a “double squeeze” on travel companies, which was “a real cause of concern for our members”.
“Of course, many travel businesses have come out of the pandemic with less financial headroom than they went into it, so increased borrowing at higher costs is not an option,” said Tanzer.
He added that ABTA had “made very strong representations” to the UK’s new prime minister Liz Truss and her cabinet to emphasise “not just the pains of the travel industry, but also its potential”.
Tanzer said “one positive step” that embattled British chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng could make would be to freeze the level of APD at its current level to “help get international travel growing”.
“Over recent years, APD has increased with inflation, and given the current economic backdrop, doing so again would add significantly to the costs for customers who are already feeling squeezed,” he urged.
“The prime minister spoke in her conference set-piece about positioning Britain as open to the world, and about the importance of our being globally competitive.
“At this time, sanctioning substantial increases in APD – already amongst the highest departure taxes anywhere in the world - would send the opposite signal - that Britain is closing for business.”