Travelers flying from Britain will be forced to pay even more in Air Passenger Duty. it’s the sixth time in as many years.Read about it and comment below.
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Not a huge increase this time, but there’s nothing like encouraging less of an activity (in this case tourism) than charging more for it. I can only imagine that this is hurtful to the tourist traffic in the UK. With those kinds of fees, people will avoid UK airports (say flying in the the Netherlands or elsewhere) and that means less UK jobs, and so on.
They charge the departure tax to tourists because they don’t want them to leave. Awwww
I’ve already done that. I like Schipol soo much better than Heathrow without the added expenses.
The ones who are hurt the most are people with family on both sides of the Atlantic; many families split between Britain and the Caribbean simply can’t afford family trips because of it.
And the British travel industry has complained of huge losses as well. Some of them have joined together to campaign against the APD and its constant rise, and they are asking the public to sign an online PETITION
Tourism isn’t hurting from the Tax increases.
Passengers through Heathrow have increased steadily:
2011 – 69 Million
2012 – 70 Million
All 5 London airports have reached a joint record of 133 Million passengers in 2012 !
So our Government will continue to squeeze the Golden Goose !
It’s always hard to prove a negative, and I’m glad that there is growth in passenger traffic through the London airports, but I suspect these numbers would be a lot higher if it weren’t for the tax. Can’t prove that, though, but it makes sense that they would be.
The golden goose will be squeezed until it’s dead and then — surprise, no more golden eggs.
The authorities have taken the approach that they can always get more visitors. They seem to believe that there will be tourists who will pay for the privilege, regardless. How do they justify these costs to their own people ? On what are they spending the APD ?
The views of other Governments regarding APD are irrelevant. They are trying to take business away from the UK because they have failing airlines and airports.
Other EU Countries are giving financial support to their airlines – against EU Rules of fair competition.
Meanwhile the UK leading Tour Operator “Thomas Cook” has started taking delivery of 23 new Airbus 321 Aircraft ready for next year.