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Passenger tax row
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Opposition is mounting in the UK over government plans to increase an airline passenger departure tax later this year.
By some calculations departure taxes on long-haul flights could increase by over 100 per cent. There has been uproar in the Caribbean’s crucial tourism industry, with many stating that it will lead to fewer people from the UK choosing to vacation in the region, with the consequential economic knock-on effects such as job losses. In the UK travel operators and airlines have questioned the British government’s logic in increasing the tax in the midst of an economic downturn, and when fewer people are travelling. The government says the move will help cut carbon emissions. Unconvinced But the UK’s travel industry has hit out at the decision. A top executive of BA’s rival Virgin Atlantic has warned that the APD increase will hurt the Caribbean. Virgin Atlantic chief executive Steve Ridgway said there were concerns about the levels of the tax on flights to the Caribbean. Mr Ridgway said some of the planned increases are quite disproportionate.
Another airline official, EasyJet boss Andy Harrison also warned that loading taxation on to aviation was not a good idea. He said if the idea of the measure was to serve as a green tax, it was not the most effective way of doing it. Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways (BA) told a UK newspaper: “The government’s own figures show that British airlines already meet their environmental costs, so there can be no ‘green’ justification for these additional taxes.” Abta, the Association of British Travel Agents is also concerned about the impact the increased tax will have. Lobby Caribbean governments and tourism officials have been lobbying against the increases due to take effect in November. The Caribbean Tourism Organisation has taken its lobby against proposed increases in air passenger duty to members of the British parliament. The CTO's interim secretary general Hugh Riley says it is clear that the measure will hurt Caribbean tourism. The matter has also come up in the British parliament, with the opposition Conservative party arguing that the tax should be imposed on airlines rather than individual passengers.
And discussion of the issue has also come up on the BBC’s national Breakfast television programme.
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Listen to report by Ken Richards
Caribbean wrestles with migration
