Scrap Air Passenger Duty, says independent report
- By Jack Preston -
- Feb 04, 2013
An independent study commissioned by the UK’s four major airlines; Virgin Atlantic, British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair, has suggested that abolishing Air Passenger Duty (APD) would lead to a long-lasting boost to the UK economy.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers report details that the move to scrap the flight tax could result in a net tax gain for the Treasury, in the process creating 60,000 new jobs and a GDP boost to the UK economy of at least £16 billion in the first three years.
"Abolishing APD has the potential to reduce the cost of flying, making it cheaper for businesses to maintain relationships with overseas customers. In this sense APD could be regarded as a tax on exports," detailed the report.
"APD is at least as damaging to the UK economy, and probably more so, than corporation tax or fuel duty."
Since its introduced in 1994, APD has steadily risen. From January 2007 there has been an increase of up to 260% for short-haul flights and up to 360% for long-haul ones.
If you wish to read the report in full, you can do so here.
By Jack Preston. Content Executive. Tweets at @JackPressedOn
