Thursday, May 19, 2011

Passenger Duty Increase to Hurt Economy and Jobs, Says EasyJet

EasyJet is surely not taking the proposed Air Passenger Duty (APD) hike easy and it is letting the world know it!

The budget airline published a report on its website that claims that increased APD would have an adverse effect on the economy, the environment and jobs. EasyJet is one of the most popular airlines in the UK and is known most for offering tickets on its cheap flights.

EasyJet posted the report yesterday and hopes that the Government will take notice and act accordingly. The independent report claims that the proposed changes in the APD will reduce the numbers of UK travellers by three million a year, increase in CO2 emissions by 360,000 tonnes a year and downsize the tourist spending in the country by £475 million a year.

Government’s proposed hike would raise APD from £12 to up to £16 per person for flights up to 2,000 miles and condense the rates and number of tax bands on long-haul flights.

EasyJet advocates that the increased APD will curtail down the number of travellers planning holiday travel, more so the ones who look for cheap tickets on flights.

The report claims that the duty change would surely cut down the number of flights but the level of CO2 emissions will go up since travellers will be encouraged to book long-haul flight tickets.

The report also says that the APD changes would bring down the UK gross domestic product by more than £2.5 billion a year, leading to a loss of up to 77,000 jobs and impacting regional airports.

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