The Treasury’s consultation on air passenger duty (APD) was a “waste of taxpayers’ money”, according to the chiefs of BA, Virgin, Ryanair and Easyjet. The government’s response last month to the consultation revealed there would be no fundamental changes to APD, despite repeated calls for change from many in the industry.
This prompted cries of outrage from the CEOs of four of Britain’s airlines, who branded the consultation “a sham”.
Easyjet’s Carolyn McCall, BA-parent IAG’s Willie Walsh, Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary and Virgin Atlantic’s Steve Ridgway had earlier formed an unprecedented alliance to campaign against the tax. In a joint statement, they said: “We have no doubt this would confirm that APD’s negative effect on UK GDP significantly outweighs its revenue benefit for the treasury.”
The treasury’s response revealed it is going ahead with an 8 per cent increase to APD in April – payable retrospectively on tickets already purchased, and has ignored calls to change the banding and to reclassify premium economy to a lesser rate than first and business class. Premium class APD will go up from £170 to £184 per journey of 6,000 miles or more.
Mike Carrivick, CEO of airline representation board BAR UK, said his 86 member airlines were “angry” about the outcome of the consultation, adding: “Immediate reactions are that a huge amount of money, time and effort has been spent in vain."
He said the chancellor’s decision to increase APD was “a retrograde step for the UK economy and will be devastating for the travel industry”.