APD will not rise this year
24.03.11
Next month’s inflation-rate rise in Air Passenger Duty (APD) will be delayed until April 2012, Chancellor George Osborne announced in the budget yesterday. He also said the Government would seek to impose the tax on private jet flights from the UK , which currently do not fall under that APD scheme, but plans to replace APD with a per-plane tax have been shelved, after Mr Osborne announced that all the options being pursued were illegal under international law.
First introduced in 1994, APD has been increased on a regular basis, with an increase last November putting rates up as high as £170 per passenger for those flying in a premium cabin on the longest flights. Mr Osborne said the Government was consulting on reform of APD and he cited the difficulties of the current scheme, which is based on the distances between capital cities and means APD is higher on flights to the Caribbean than California.
Travel industry leaders have welcomed the decision not to increase APD, but raised fears of a double increase next year. easyJet also called for transfer passengers, currently exempt, to be included in the revised scheme.
Add to: del.icio.us | Digg it | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit
To book gatwick airport hotel or gatwick airport car park at the lowest price, click on these links to two great gatwick parking and gatwick hotels price comparison pages.