APD or Air passenger duty rise update

Travel advice: It would appear that we have to pay more duty on flights, because:

A Treasury spokesperson thinks: “Flying is relatively under taxed, with no VAT on tickets or duty on aviation fuel.

You should add your comment on this below and contact your MP, its you they are taxing…

The duty is currently £10 for short-haul flights and £40 for longer journeys, costs which airlines pass on to passengers.

Under the government’s plans, the tax will rise to £85 for Australia and £60 to the US by November next year.

“The changes to aviation duty or air passenger duty better reflect the environmental costs of flying and help ensure that aviation contributes its fair share to public services.”

“A family of four travelling to Australia is going to be facing a bill of £340 before they have set foot on the plane and paid for their tickets.”

But Darren Johnson, from the Green Party, said it was a good thing if people were discouraged from flying.

“We need to be increasing the air passenger duty,” he said. “Aviation is simply not paying its way in terms of the environmental damage it causes.”