Willie Walsh attacks David Cameron over lack of aviation policy
29.11.11
Willie Walsh, the chairman of British Airways parent IAG, last night attacked David Cameron for having ‘no policy for aviation’, the Guardian reports. He said that if the prime minister were serious about reviving the economy he would not be allowing UK airports to be overtaken as they are by competitors around the world. Aviation should be a building block to growth, he added.
Mr Walsh accused the prime minister of letting Britain's airline industry be undermined by 'foolish decisions' such as allowing air passenger duty to go up by twice the level of inflation, turning British aviation into the most taxed aviation industry in the world. He said: ‘When David Cameron went to China, he said we need to establish trade links and announced a Rolls-Royce deal worth £740m for engines to a China Eastern airline. But while he rightly praises Rolls-Royce, he fails to recognise that Rolls-Royce's success and growth is on the back of China's investment in aviation.'
‘The Chinese see aviation as a building block of growth. But this government has no policy on aviation. Mr Cameron will not even acknowledge the link between Rolls-Royce and British aviation (it is as if one is divorced from the other).’
He pointed out that all round the world other governments are massively expanding their air industry base. Mr Walsh said: ‘China has built 45 airports and, by 2020, it will have built a further 52. Or look at the Middle East: Dubai was 99th in the league table of world airports; last year it was 14th; today it is 4th and, by 2014, it will leapfrog Heathrow for the No 1 slot. China, Dubai, Brazil – wherever you look, they are taking advantage of our lack of ambition. These economies are investing in aviation the way the Victorians invested in railways.’
‘If the chancellor really wants to boost our economy, he should recognise the value of aviation. And the first step would be to scrap air passenger duty, a tax that is driving business and tourism away from the UK. If the double inflation rise goes ahead, we will see the tax burden on a family of four travelling in economy to Australia rise from the already prohibitive £680 to £979 by 2015. The Chinese and the Middle Eastern carriers do not have APD for good reason.'
‘This year, passengers flying from the UK will pay £2.2bn in APD, the highest aviation tax of anywhere in the world. Holland, Denmark and Norway have abolished their aviation taxes in recognition of the damage that they were inflicting on their economies.’
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