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APD hike forces FC to suspend carbon offset scheme
First Choice has suspended an opt out scheme to encourage passengers to pay £1 towards carbon offsetting due to the hike in Air Passenger Duty from February.
The increase in revenue generated for APD by First Choice Mainstream holidaymakers will be £21 million a year, the company calculated.
That exceeds the total cost of offsetting C02 emissions by First Choice customers three times.
“The money being raised by the government is not being used to combat the effects of flying on the environment, yet the company’s own scheme announced last week has had to be suspended as customers will not pay the additional taxes and then a further contribution on top,” a statement said.
First Choice planned to introduce an ‘opt out’ system in which passengers were encouraged to pay £1 towards carbon offsetting, while the company would match this. With a 100% take up, a substantial amount of the carbon emitted by First Choice Airways would have been offset. The plan was announced at last week’s ABTA Travel Convention.
The operator said it believed the new APD “bears no relation to the efficiency of the airline – airlines acting responsibly are penalised to the same degree”.
First Choice said: “Airlines should be independently audited and charged accordingly. Those airlines such as First Choice Airways who have a range of measures in place to reduce fuel usage and act responsibly, should be exempt from APD.”
The company claimed that APD would make up 10% of the average total cost of family holiday to Florida.
“The cost of a family treating themselves to extra legroom on a holiday flight to Florida is £436 return. The tax on top of that will be an additional £320 – 73% of the cost of the upgrade and an increase of 28% on the cost this year,” First Choice said.
“The impact on long-haul developing countries is significant and there are thousands of people whose livelihood will be impacted. Tourism is significant for the vast majority of the 50 countries with the highest numbers of people living below the poverty line of $1 per day.”
First Choice mainstream sector managing director Dermot Blastland said: “Tourism can be a force for good, but this tax is a farce. We continue to believe that proper carbon management that includes the consumer in that process is the right way forward. Not blunt taxation.”
*See previous APD story for industry-wide reaction.
Report by Phil Davies
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