Govt criticised for APD increase

The government has been widely criticised by travel industry representatives in Britain and abroad for increasing the air passenger duty (APD) that people must pay to catch flights from the country.

In his pre-Budget report, chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling announced that new APD levels would range from £10 for people taking flights to Europe to £60 for travellers flying to Australia and New Zealand.

The Association of British Travel Agents (Abta) questioned the basic concept of APD, saying that it is considered environmentally inefficient as it penalises airlines that operate their aircraft as close to capacity as possible.

Abta said it was "particularly concerned" that the reform could discourage travel to destinations whose economies are reliant on tourism, particularly from the UK, such as the Caribbean and Kenya.

Andy Cooper, the association's head of development, said: "The travel sector has not yet felt the full effect of the recession, but travel lags behind the rest of the economy by about six months and we are facing an extremely challenging 2009.

"The money being raised from APD will not be hypothecated to go to environmental causes, but will just end up in general government coffers."

Criticism of the tax increase also came from abroad, with the US Air Transport Association (ATA) describing it as "counterproductive to airlines' environmental progress".

ATA president James C May said: "The decision to revise and further increase the UK duty is a revenue raiser for the government under the guise of environmental protection."

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