Ryanair has called on the Government to scrap “suicidal” Air Passenger Duty which is due to be raised by £1 to £11 from November 1.
The budget airline giant said it believes that the UK’s traffic and tourism decline is a direct result of APD.
An increase in the tax, coupled with high/increasing airport charges, will result in 10 million fewer passengers at BAA airports this year, the carrier warned.
Traffic at the UK’s largest airport operator has fallen by six per cent in the last 12 months with 8.5m fewer passengers at seven BAA UK airports, Ryanair said.
At the same time, the airline’s traffic has grown by 13%, with seven million additional passengers in the past year.
The Irish airline repeated its call for the UK government to follow the recent example of the Belgian, Dutch, Greek and Spanish counterparts which have scrapped tourist taxes and/or reduced airport charges, in some cases to zero, in order to stimulate tourism.
A spokesman said: “Gordon Brown should follow the Belgian, Dutch, Greek and Spanish governments and start welcoming tourists instead of taxing them.
“Britain’s traffic and tourism losses will continue as the Government’s APD tourist tax increases to £11 in two weeks time.
“With passenger numbers consistently in decline it is evident that it is time to axe the tax.”
by Phil Davies
