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October 07 | New
APD charge on airlines and passengers |
The Government's chancellor
Alistair Darling has announced a change in the way it taxes
airlines from November 1st 2009.
The Advanced Passenger Duty charge will be removed and a new tax
introduced which will be based on individual flights rather than
per passenger.
New tax focused on the environment
The new tax will be focused more on 'Green' travel and hopes to reduce
plane emissions by having larger taxes on less environmentally
friendly flights. This will mean that newer planes with more
passengers will benefit and larger, older planes with fewer
seats will be more heavily taxed.
The move has brought mixed reactions from the airlines. A
Thomsonfly / First Choice Airlines spokesman has welcomed the
fact that the new tax will be levied on planes and not on
passengers. Ryanair have just claimed that its another way
to put a tax on its clients.
Will it cost travellers more?
There are worries though that the new tax will eventually cost
flyers more than the APD does now. The new rules will mean
that when airlines fly without a full capacity they will be
losing out. As a result they will pass down the extra
charges to the passenger and also reduce or cancel more flights.
It is not yet know how the Government will finally calculate the
charges on each flight.
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