IAG chief executive Willie Walsh and his Ryanair counterpart, Michael O’Leary, have joined forces in a call to scrap Britain’s air passenger duty (APD). Mr Walsh warned that the aviation tax – the world’s highest – was damaging British competitiveness and jobs.
Willie Walsh said: “Other countries that have scrapped their aviation taxes have seen an immediate boost to their GDP and tourism. Why saddle businesses and tourists with a tax that your European competitors do not have? APD is well past its sell-by date and must be scrapped.”
Passengers have paid more than €31 billion since its introduction in 1995.
Short haul passengers are charged €15 for every departing flight from the UK, rising to €171 for long-haul passengers.
“The introduction of a travel tax in Ireland in 2009 caused passenger numbers at Irish airports to collapse by almost 25 per cent, from 30 million to 23 million over four years, damaging tourism and inhibiting growth,” said Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair.
“Thankfully, the Irish Government scrapped this tax in April 2014, which resulted in immediate traffic and route expansion at Irish airports, where Ryanair has grown strongly, and an influx of high spending tourists to Ireland, with passenger numbers reaching record levels (from 23 million in 2012 to 32 million in 2016).”
EasyJet chief executive Carolyn McCall said: “Removing APD, a tax on passengers that suffocates demand, would certainly stimulate economic growth and make travel easier and more affordable. There is so much evidence to support this in other countries.”
