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Millions face retrospective air tax
Airlines and agents are up in arms after the Government confirmed that millions of travellers will be forced to retrospectively pay extra in air tax.
Passengers who have already booked flights from 1st April next year now have to pay the increase in air passenger duty for their flight.
Virgin Atlantic chief commercial officer Julie Southern said: “It’s completely unacceptable that millions of passengers now face an additional tax bill on tickets they have already paid for.
"This stealth tax, hidden by the Government in the small print of a secondary document, isn’t a tax on airlines, it is a tax on passengers – tourists, businesses and British families alike.
“We have been warning the Government for months of the impact this will have and have urged them to avoid this unnecessary situation. Hundreds of thousands of passengers have already booked travel with us after April 1st, meaning millions across the wider industry are likely to be impacted.
"People would never be expected to pay extra duty for the petrol already sitting in their cars or wine sitting in their fridge, so why does the Treasury think it is acceptable to retrospectively charge airline passengers?"
The Govermnent has now confirmed the rate rises for APD will be as follows:
Economy short-haul flights will rise from £12 to £13
Economy medium-haul flights will increase from £60 to £65.
Economy flights to the Caribbean, Mexico, East Asia, Thailand and other countries in band C will rise from £75 to £81.
Economy flights to Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile and other long-haul destinations in band D will rise from £85 to £92.
In premium economy and business class, these rates will be double.
by Bev Fearis
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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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