Tax Budget 2018: Higher levy on long-haul flights angers airlines

Budget 2018: Chancellor Philip Hammond said that Air Passenger Duty would be frozen for short journeys but rise in line with inflation for long-haul trips

Getty Images

Joanna Hodgson

30 October 2018

Airlines and airports on Tuesday blasted the government’s plan to increase a tax on long-haul flights.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said that Air Passenger Duty (APD) would be frozen for short journeys but rise in line with inflation for long-haul.

Ryanair’s chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said: “Removing the travel tax would have done a lot to grow British tourism and business at a time when it needs support given the ongoing uncertainty created by Brexit.”

Jacobs added: “The removal of APD would also support the regions (North, Scotland and NI) which are impacted the most by this tax."

British Airways’ owner IAG said the “Brexit budget has undermined Britain’s global competitiveness by upping APD”.

Glyn Jones, chief executive of London Southend Airport told the Standard: “This is a missed opportunity. UK APD is a tax on growth. Brexit inevitably entails risk. The Chancellor could have reduced the risk by addressing the internationally high levels of aviation taxes levied on the UK.”

MORE ABOUT

Budget 2018

Aviation

Tax Budget 2018: Higher levy on long-haul flights angers airlines

Read More