Cheapflights joins pre-Budget call for abolition of APD

Monday, 22 Apr, 2009 0

Cheapflights has joined a last-ditch attempt by the travel industry to urge the Chancellor to axe Air Passenger Duty or scrap the proposed increase due on November 1.

With the Budget announcement due later today, the flight price search site has backed an earlier call from the European Low Fares Airline Association.

Cheapflights reminded Alastair Darling of a statement he made in November 2008 saying â€œAt a time when the economy slows downâ€¦â€¦.â€¦trying to get more tax out of people that would make a difficult situation worse, so what you do is you support the economy by helping businesses, by helping peopleâ€.

â€œCheapflights therefore urges the Chancellor to follow his own advice in the coming Budget,â€ said UK general manager Francesca Ecsery.

â€œThe Dutch have decided to abolish their version of APD due to its detrimental effect on their economy.

â€œIt therefore defies not only common sense but also the Chancellorâ€™s own reasoning not to do the same or at the very least halt the planned November 2009 rise in APD.

â€œWhen the UK has to climb out of recession now clearly is the worst possible time for the proposed increase in APD.â€

By Bev Fearis

Bev

Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.

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