Britain’s aviation industry on Wednesday criticised changes to a tax on air passengers which will freeze the duty for a majority of customers, saying they did not go far enough to keep Britain competitive as Brexit approaches. British finance minister Philip Hammond said in his annual budget that the 2019-20 level of Air Passenger Duty (APD) would be frozen for short haul and economy passengers, while those flying premium class would pay more. But the industry wants to see the tax cut, and British Airways owner IAG said the plan contradicted Hammond’s pledge for low taxes. “At a time when the country is looking to the government for confidence and encouragement we get a dull and uninspiring budget from a dull and uninspiring Chancellor,” IAG said. “If this tax continues, the UK will struggle to compete on the global stage, post Brexit.” The government said the move “will keep costs down for the vast majority of passengers,” though Britain has high duties compared with other European countries. It has become a particular issue in Northern Ireland, where tourists can cross the border into Ireland to take advantage of cheaper airfares. <br/>
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Malaysia stands to lose as much as US$362m annually from its gross domestic product (GDP), if it proceeds with its plan to impose a new charge on airline passengers, according to two aviation bodies. The IATA and Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) have expressed strong concern over Malaysia’s plan to introduce its Advance Passenger Screening System (APSS). Malaysia’s APPS is pursuant to the country’s Advance Passenger Information (API) management system. The APSS is a new border management programme and at present, some 65 countries worldwide have already introduced such programmes. These will become mandatory in 2018, under a new ICAO standard. Malaysia is planning to recover its costs for the API programme through a new charge on passengers. In a position paper issued today, IATA and AAPA said they were strongly concerned by the proposed charge that would be levied on passengers flying into and out of Malaysia. “A large majority of the States with API programs in place do not levy such charges and instead, have agreed to fund this through the general national budget,” both aviation bodies said. Story includes reasons.<br/>