Ticket prices rise as new flight tax takes off
Posted by Tom Murphy
If you’re travelling by air from today, you’ll find a hefty extra whack on your ticket price: the Government has increased the amount of Air Passenger Duty (APD) we have to pay to get off the ground.
Before today’s rise, cattle-class passengers paid £10 for flights within Europe and £40 to other destinations, with those in comfier seats paying for the pleasure by being taxed at double those rates.
The new regime introduces a complex four-band system, based on the distance from London to the destination. Journeys of up to 2,000 miles, covered by Band A, incur a basic charge of £11, while a Band D flight (more than 6,000 miles) will cost you £55. And the rates will increase further in November 2010.
However, things still aren’t quite as straightforward as they may seem. The Caribbean is lumped into Band C (4,000-6,000 miles, £50), meaning that passengers pay more to go there than the west coast of the USA. In addition, premium economy seats are now subject to the higher rate, along with business and first class.
APD was originally introduced as a charge on emissions, but with the Government facing a gaping hole in public finances, more suspicious commentators have labelled it a stealth tax. The Treasury currently trousers £2bn each year from the APD – a figure that’s expected to rise by 75% to £3.5bn under the new system.
Not surprisingly, the airline industry has plenty to say about the duty. EasyJet’s chief executive Andy Harrison blasted APD as “a daft tax”, adding: “People don’t understand why their tax is going up again while pampered fat cats on private jets and foreign transfer passengers don’t pay any tax at all.”
Meanwhile, Willie Walsh, Harrison’s counterpart at British Airways, has described the tax increase as a “crushing blow” to the UK’s aviation industry that will deter travellers and cost the country billions of pounds in lost business.
Do you think the Government’s right to pile more of a burden on to air passengers? Will you be rethinking your travel plans as a result of the new charges? Let us know.
SEE ALSO:
Welcome to the cheap seats? Not on BA >>
Carbon offsetting - a convenient myth? >>
RyanAir rakes in £548m in stealth charges >>
we've saved for a special holiday and now the government are going to tax it even more, how do they expect us to keep doing this, paying more and more just to live here let alone leave for acouple of weeks
Posted by: mark | 02 November 2009 at 08:07
What do you expect from a daft and out of control government? Air travel contributes to only 2% of world polution so it can't be a polution tax, don't be fooled! Just remember we have to pay for this labour governments monumental incompetence that has reduced this country from division one to division four.There is more pain for us hard working people to come and the only way to stop it is to get rid of Gordon Brown and the labour government. VOTE THEM OUT!!!! (not that he has been voted in by anyone)
Posted by: T | 01 November 2009 at 21:59
Lets hope that all this extra tax is going towards STOPPING IMMIGRATION.
Posted by: STOPPING IMMIGRATION. | 01 November 2009 at 21:22
Well before we pay any money shouldnt the politicians pay back what they owe. Stop bank bosses getting large pay outs and put this money to work.
Posted by: neil Thomas | 01 November 2009 at 20:32
They have got to cut the amount of money polotitians recieve before I have any less scepticism for more tax hikes.
Posted by: scruff | 01 November 2009 at 19:26
i do not think the tax is ok if you have already paid for a flight as you would loose to mutch money to cancel
Posted by: derrick l miles | 01 November 2009 at 18:42
What are they doing with the money thats what i would like to know. Its just another scam to get money from the public so the goverment can waste it.
Posted by: ike | 01 November 2009 at 18:37