Air Passenger Duty tax’s impact on trade concerns PM
Nov 3 2009 by William Green, The Journal
“As I say in the North East, we have spent billions on a bank for very good reasons. We could have stood back and said: ‘There you are, tough luck’.
“We didn’t because that was the wrong approach,” said Mr Darling in a recent interview with The Journal.
But Ross Smith, head of policy at the North East Chamber of Commerce, said: “We think it is the wrong policy to implement and the wrong time to implement it.
“If the North East is going to enjoy significant economy recovery, then international trade is going to pay a huge part of that, which means we should be boosting the region’s access to overseas markets not threatening them.”
Mr Brown should launch an investigation into the impact of APD on regional air links before implementing any further increases in the tax, added Mr Smith.
The developments come after the Government has just increased the cost of APD on an economy short-haul flight to Europe or North Africa from £10 to £11 – with a further rise due in November next year to £12.
Duty on flights to the USA, Russia and the Gulf have increased from £40 to £45 and then to £60 in 12 months, a Caribbean flight will see its APD increase from £40 to £50 and then £75.
Economy flights to Australia have gone up from £40 to £55 and then £85.
A family of four – or even a team of business colleagues – flying from Newcastle to Australia using Emirates will pay £340 in APD, more than double what they currently do, by next year.
