A campaign to persuade the Chancellor to drop planned hikes in the tax levied on all flights leaving the UK was launched last Monday at airports across the country as a new poll is released showing 3 out of 4 people think that Air Passenger Duty (APD) should not go up in the next Budget. Of those saying APD should not go up 49 per cent said APD should be reduced. Only 6 per cent said APD should be increased.

The Chancellor announced in this year’s Budget that APD will rise by double inflation in 2012.

The ‘Hands off our Holiday’ campaign, backed by the Airport Operators Association (AOA), Board of Airline Representatives in the UK (BAR-UK), and the British Air Transport Association (BATA) is urging people to email their MP via the website www.handsoffourholiday.com and to tweet their support for the hikes to be abandoned using the hashtag #handsoffourhols.

The poll, carried out by Opinium Research for the Hands off our Holiday campaign also shows that nearly 4 out of 5 people were unaware of the plans to further increase the tax by double inflation.

Commenting on the campaign, Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the AOA, said: “Our message to the Chancellor is that enough is enough. Air Passenger Duty has already gone up by 325% on long haul flights and 140% on short haul flights in the last five years. Family finances are under great pressure at the moment and most people save hard all year for their holiday. Working families deserve a break.”

Mike Carrivick, Chief Executive of BAR-UK, added: “The UK already has the highest rate of flight tax in the world. Why should families be discriminated against for wanting to fly off on a hard-earned break once a year?”

Simon Buck, Chief Executive of BATA said: “The government already takes nearly £3bn in tax from passengers. This is more than the tax on the banking industry. Most people simply aren’t aware how much flight tax they pay. The government should come clean about this stealth tax and drop the hikes planned for next year.”

A planned strike by UK Border Agency staff is likely to affect passengers arriving at some of the UK airports.

The 24-hour strike is scheduled to start this evening, Wednesday 29 June 2011 – start times vary at different airports due to shift patterns.

The Border Agency has issued the following advice to passengers arriving in the UK:

Around 70% of Border Agency staff are members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).

As the Treasury’s consultation on the reform of Air Passenger Duty (APD) enters its final week – ends on 17 June – ABTA is calling on the government to rethink the levels and structure of the tax which is the highest in the world.

APD is based on distance travelled and at present a family of four flying to Europe will pay £48 in APD, to the USA the tax increases to £240, to Australia the tax increases to £340 – all based on the economy rate – however, the cost of the tax is set to rise again next April by twice the cost of inflation.

Only five European countries impose some form of aviation tax with the UK’s level higher than anywhere else in the world. Denmark, Norway, Malta and Holland have all scrapped similar taxes as the revenue raised was outweighed by the damage caused to their economies. Ireland has pledged to follow suit shortly.

ABTA is part of the Fair Tax on Flying www.facebook.com/afairtaxonflying alliance that has united the travel industry to raise awareness of the high levels and illogical structure of APD, which is damaging UK travel and tourism and adding an additional tax burden to holidaymakers and business travellers at a time when fuel prices are reaching record levels.

Mark Tanzer, ABTA Chief Executive, said: “It is vital that the Government understands the damaging impact that APD is having on the tourism industry in the UK. We already pay the highest levels of aviation tax in the world, and if the Government goes ahead with its double-inflationary increase and levies an ETS tax on top of this in 2012, we will see another eye-watering increase in the tax burden on the industry and on holidaymakers and business travellers flying in and out of the UK. The industry is willing to pay its way, but this clearly puts us at a competitive disadvantage when compared with our European neighbours and punishes the travelling public unfairly.”

ABTA encourages all of its Members and any others who feel strongly to make their own submissions to the treasury at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_airpassenger.htm

Related stories:

Manchester Airport launches ‘give us a break’ APD campaign

UK Airport Consultative Committee: APD and European Emissions’ Trading Scheme = double taxation

Double taxation on flights from 2012

JLA urges chancellor to rule out double taxation

APD could threaten Scottish flights

A recent survey of 154 MPs has shown that more than two thirds did not know about the double taxation that airport passengers are facing in 2012.

The survey, conducted by ComRes and Airport Operators Association (AOA), found that majority of the MPs were unfamiliar with the UK aviation industry’s planned entry into the EU Emissions Trading scheme (EU ETS) in 2012. This additional tax, coupled with a substantial increase in Air Passenger Duty (APD) next year, will mean that air passengers face double taxation on flights.

Of those MPs who did know about the additional tax caused by the introduction of the EU ETS, 63% believe that APD should be reduced or abolished.

Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Airport Operators Association, said: “The ComRes / AOA survey shows that the majority of MPs do not know that air passengers will face onerous double taxation on flights from 2012. It is shocking that our policy-makers are unaware that holidaymakers and business people will be paying a new cost on flying – the EU Emissions Trading Scheme – as well as even more APD, already the highest in the world.

“Of those MPs who do actually know what is going on, more than 60% support the reduction or scrapping of APD to encourage economic growth by ensuring that passengers do not face a further tax rise in what are already tough economic times for everybody.”

Andrew Hawkins, Chairman of ComRes added: “Fuel duty in one form or another has long proved a toxic issue politically and the impact of the ETS should not be ignored by politicians. It is notable that of MPs who are aware of it, the majority view is to ameliorate its impact by varying Air Passenger Duty. The ETS issue has all the hallmarks of a powerfully dangerous political mix.”

Spectrum Interactive is set to become the exclusive provider of wireless internet access at London Luton and Cardiff airports.

Spectrum, the UK’s leading provider of public internet access to airports, will provide a pay-as-you-go WiFi service at both airports.

Announced today, the new agreement will enable both airports to provide the seamless and always-on connectivity that business and leisure travellers crave. In addition, the Spectrum service will bring flexibility for passengers with iPass, Boingo and Skype Access accounts, due to roaming arrangements.

Jo Fyfe, London Luton Airport spokesperson said, “Reliability, speed, ease-of-use and good support were of utmost importance when specifying a new WiFi service and Spectrum has delivered. The service provides an excellent user experience across all mobile devices.”

Daniel Gray, director of Spectrum’s travel division, commented: “We are very pleased to have London Luton and Cardiff Airport on board. Like our Airport partners, we see WiFi as a major contributing factor to passenger satisfaction and therefore strive to offer a best-in-class solution which helps enhance the overall travel experience.”

Yesterday’s announcement by bmibaby to expand operations at Belfast City Airport has come at a cost to Manchester and Cardiff Airports.

In a statement, the airline said that ‘ In the current economic climate it is essential for bmibaby to focus on airports where the airline already has a strong market presence and where there are strong growth opportunities for the bmibaby business. Therefore bmibaby has optimised their current flying programme and as a result of this bmibaby will cease operations from Cardiff Airport and from Manchester Airport at the end of the summer 2011 flying programme.’

However, bmi will continue to operate from Manchester – it recently announced a new service to Frankfurt, operated on behalf of Lufthansa, and launched a new service from Manchester to Basel in Switzerland. bmi regional operates frequent services from Manchester Airport to Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Lyon.

The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the UK’s specialist aviation regulator, is conduction a two-week online survey on the travelling public’s experiences during the disruption caused to flights in November and December 2010.

The survey aims to help the CAA gain a better understanding of passengers’ views about how airports, airlines and other companies operating at UK airports, met, or failed to meet, their expectations. For instance, the CAA is interested in finding out how well passengers were kept informed about the disruption and whether people were told about their rights to assistance from airlines.

The survey can be accessed here: www.caa.co.uk/snowsurvey

The CAA is keen to hear from as many people who experienced disruption as possible to try and build the best possible picture of what worked well and what did not, so we can work with industry to improve the situation in case of future disruptions.

The CAA is also acting as an independent observer on the enquiry panel put in place by BAA to review Heathrow’s performance and establish the lessons to be learned following December’s severe weather.

From 30th March, Helvetic Airways will offer passengers flying out of Cardiff Airport flights to Zurich.

The new Cardiff flights will initially run three times a week: Mondays, Wednesdays and either Thursdays or Fridays, tbc, until 21st May. After this date it will also introduce a Saturday service taking the service up to four times a week.

To search for and book Cardiff airport parking or Cardiff airport hotels click on the links.

bmibaby has announced the withdrawal of three routes from Cardiff Airport.

The axed Cardiff services are to Edinburgh, Jersey and Munich, which the airline says is ‘regrettable’. bmibaby will instead concentrate on more popular routes.

The last flying dates will be the 25th March to Jersey and 27th March to Edinburgh. The Munich flight was suspended on 2nd January.

To search for and book Cardiff airport parking or Cardiff airport hotels click on the links.

Passengers using Belfast International Airport, Cardiff Airport and Luton Airport will be able to take advantage of a wealth of information and services on the airports new websites.

The airports, all owned by Spanish firm, Abertis Intraestructuras, have undergone the revamp in order to make the obtaining of information much simpler.

Passengers will now find a simplistic home page, which then navigates users directly to areas of choice, such as planning a trip, travelling soon or passenger meet and greet. The new sites will also link into social networking sites.

Importantly, each website has enhanced booking pages for airport car parking, car hire, airport lounges, flights and holidays.

Regular site users will find the customisation areas of the site most useful. This will allow passengers to save specific areas of the site most relevant to them, including airport parking, security, shopping and executive lounges for the three airports, Belfast International Airport, Cardiff Airport and Luton Airport.