The travel industry has voiced a mixed reaction to news that the UK Government is to make changes to Air Passenger Duty.
Jamaica’s Minister for Tourism, Ed Bartlett, told delegates at Caribbean Marketplace that a Government source had confirmed that an announcement would be made in March (see earlier story).
It is believed the tax will be changed so that duty on short haul will be increased and long haul decreased, bringing the Treasury the same amount of revenue.
But Cheapflights chairman Hugo Burge said although the Caribbean would benefit, it would still be damaging to UK travellers overall.
"The CTO now commendably appears to have succeeded with its lobbying in reducing APD for its region. However, the overall burden of this regressive and heavy tax on passengers will regrettably appear to remain the same following the reported reorganisation of APD."
He said Cheapflight.co.uk’s annual searches for Jamaica and Barbados have seen 13% and 23% falls respectively since November 2010.
Skyscanner CEO Gareth Williams said the decision to undertake a consultation would be well received, but added: "If the government proposal of taxing all flights from UK and EU airports goes ahead, consumers may have to pay up to five times more for their flights in addition to APD.
"Those in the South East will be worst affected, as the government has also proposed a higher air tax for passengers flying from London airports."
*What do you think of the reports that the structure of APD will be changed to benefit Caribbean tourism? Is it enough? Will it make a difference to your business?
Send us your views by clicking on ADD A COMMENT below.
by Bev Fearis
By Bev Fearis
