Disregarding repeated calls from the UK aviation industry and UK travel agents to cut the duty, APD is set to rise on long-haul flights by €2.35 (£2). The tax on short-haul remains the same for now at €15.20 (£13).
Directline Holidays recent APD survey underlines the unpopularity of the tax among UK holidaymakers and indicates it may be altering the way holiday makers travel abroad.
A majority believe APD on short haul flights is higher than fair, with 51% stating the duty should be set between £0-£10 – £3 less than the £13 the tax will be increased to in April. Similarly, 64% feel APD on long-haul flights should be set between £0-40 – far less than the £81 you can expect to pay when travelling to India, or the £92 when travelling to Australia.
Just over 61% of those polled stated that would be more willing to pay APD if other taxes were not also levied at UK airports, which signals a consensus that UK holidaymakers are being overburdened with added taxes and fees when trying to travel.
There is also reason to believe that APD has not been fully explained to the public – despite more than half (56 %) of people knowing what APD is, 85% were unaware that they could claim back APD is they didn’t travel.
The survey indicates that increases to APD have the potential to change the way Brits travel abroad in the future. A huge 87% of people didn’t know that you could avoid paying the long-haul tax if you fly via Europe, and 67% said they would consider flying via Europe to save money - the charge is not levied if you book your long haul from the Continent.
63% stated they would opt for a short haul holiday over a long haul one if the APD was considerably less.
Of those who completed the survey, 83% of those polled believe APD is a way of raising revenue for the government masquerading as a green tax.
Last year APD rose by 8%, and the treasury has indicated it plans further increases in line with inflation. Where other European countries have scrapped the tax altogether, the UK will see a 3.6% year-on-year rise which will increase the revenue raised from €3.4 billion in 2013-14 up to €4.5 billion by 2017-18.
Chief executive of the Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR UK), Dale Keller, said the heavy burden on air travel undermined Osborne’s UK tax competitiveness claims: “Tax on the aviation sector is almost uniquely being increased. This runs completely counter to the goal of bringing in more business with a competitive tax system.”
In The Telegraph, Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Airport Operators Association (AOA), described the year-on-year rises in APD as “fundamentally damaging to the UK’s global competitiveness”.
He continued, “The recent World Economic Forum statistics showed we are now 139th out of 140 countries in the world for ticket taxes and airport charges (only Chad is placed lower), and our eye-wateringly high levels of APD already mean we pay the highest passenger tax on flying in the world.”
Maria Whiteman, CEO of Directline Holidays says “We don’t envisage it will stop passengers flying but we would welcome some tax relief. If the government were willing to consider a fairer way of charging and distributing APD it would be a step in the right direction.”
