Liverpool Airport join plane tax flight
03.07.08
Liverpool Airport has joined with other airports in the North of England to push the Government to rethink plans to hit the airline sector for £500m in extra taxes. Neil Pakey, the airport’s managing director, says Air Passenger Duty (APD) is already making it hard for UK regional airports like Liverpool to win new routes by adding to the cost of tickets.
Economy passengers pay £10 APD on low-cost flights to European destinations and £40 for long-haul flights after taxes doubled last year. However, the Government plans to replace APD, currently paid by individual passengers, with a new tax on planes from next November. The Government says that it expects to earn another £500m in taxes as a result.
Mr Pakey says airlines cut back on routes from the North as a result of the tax rise as Northern airports are more sensitive to higher costs. In April British Airways said it was ending its Manchester to New York route after 40 years, a move Mr Pakey says was down in part to increasing APD. He said: ‘BA pulling out of Manchester - New York after 40 years was a water-shed.'
Mr Pakey says UK taxes on aviation already make UK airports less attractive compared to the continent. He says Liverpool Airport and other hubs want to make clear to Government that any further tax rises will make the UK even less competitive. The airport plans to work with Manchester, Blackpool, Newcastle airports as well as sister airports Robin Hood Airport and Durham Tees Valley to campaign against the tax change.
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