UK: Air tax to increase despite pleas from beleaguered travel industry

The Government is pressing ahead with plans to increase Air Passenger Duty (APD) despite pleas from the beleaguered travel industry to temporarily scrap the tax. APD already adds as much as GBP176 to the cost of an airfare and airlines and tour operators had called for it to be suspended for a year to help them survive the Covid crisis. Instead, the Government has confirmed that the tax will rise in April 2021 to a maximum of GBP180 per person. This is the highest rate, which applies to longer flights (where the distance from London to the destination country’s capital city is over 2,000 miles) for premium economy, business-class and first-class passengers. The reduced rate – which applies to economy-class airfares – will rise from GBP80 to GBP82 for longer flights. The short-haul rate will remain GBP26 per person (or GBP13 for passengers in economy class). Abta, the travel association, Airlines UK, which represents carriers including British Airways, EasyJet and Ryanair, as well as the Airport Operators Association, have all urged the Government to suspend APD in recent weeks to provide a timely boost for an industry left on the brink by global travel restrictions. <br/>