James BryceFAMILIES planning a break in Spain or visiting loved ones in the UK are to be hit by increased air taxes, according to the UK’s leading airlines.
British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic have joined forces to pressure the government into scrapping plans to increase Air Passenger Duty (APD) by eight per cent on April 1.
While Spain does not itself impose APD, a family of four travelling between Spain and the UK currently pay 57 euros in tax for a return flight.
However under government plans, the tax is due to increase drastically by 46 per cent by 2016, which could leave cash-strapped families having to fork out hundreds of euros in duties.
“These endless cumulative increases in APD are pricing families out of flying – both from and to the UK,” said a joint statement from the airlines’ CEOs.
“We call on the Chancellor to suspend the April 1 rises in APD, and those planned up to 2016, while the Treasury commissions an independent study of the economic effects of this job-destroying tax.”
