The existing tax on air travel is to be increased, as announced in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.
Air Passenger Duty for people flying from the UK will go up for the sixth time in as many years.
The increase comes in on 1 April and will hit medium and long-haul flights.
Band A, flights to Europe, have not been changed and the tax remains at £13 per person flying in economy class.
The tax came into effect in1994. Initially the levy was £5 per person on short-haul destinations and £10 to travel farther afield.
Bands B (USA, Egypt), C (Caribbean, Thailand, India) and D (Australia) have all gone up. The highest tax, Band D, is now £97 per person.
Those opting for premium economy, business- or first-class cabins, must pay twice this.
The Chancellor paid no attention to the pleas of the travel industry which believes the tax is harming the economy by inhibiting greater travel and preventing airlines from creating new routes to the UK.
Savvy long-distance travellers are flying to places such as Paris and Dublin to then complete the rest of the long journey.
The UK aviation tax is already the highest in the world. In a recent study by the World Economic Forum, the UK was ranked 138th out of 139 countries according to the competitiveness of its air ticket taxes and airport charges – ahead only of Chad in Africa.
Similar taxes in several other countries have been abolished after it became clear that they were harming the economy. Most recently, in October, the Irish government scrapped its aviation tax.
