The Airport Operators Association welcome today’s PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) report into the impact Air Passenger Duty is having on the UK economy. It urges Chancellor George Osborne to commission a Treasury study into the effects of APD on UK plc, and to scrap plans to increase Air Passenger Duty (APD) in March’s Budget pending the results of such a study.
The report, commissioned by British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Ryanair and easyJet, suggests that APD is costing the UK 0.45% in GDP per year, and nearly 60,000 jobs between now and 2020, and that lower APD levels would result in higher revenues for the Treasury from a boost in growth.
Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Airport Operators Association, said:
“This authoritative report provides real evidence to support what the Airport Operators Association and the cross-industry A Fair Tax on Flying campaign have been saying, that APD is a tax on jobs and growth that has been damaging UK plc. Scrapping the planned increase in the tax at the next Budget in March could make an important contribution to the revival of the UK economy, and provide space for the Treasury to conduct its own study into the impact eye-wateringly high levels of APD are having on the UK economy.
“UK airports want to play a central role in boosting jobs and the wider economy. The PwC report demonstrates how APD jeopardises growth, which is the Government’s most important objective. Crucially, it also shows that re-thinking APD could be done without any negative effect on the deficit, as APD revenues become replaced by revenues from growth. That takes away the Chancellor’s last argument against action on APD, and so we urge him to abandon his plans to increase it again this April.”
For further information please contact Patricia Page on 020 7340 0990 or [email protected].
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Notes to Editors
The Airport Operators Association (AOA) is the trade association that represents UK airports. Its mission is to see UK airports grow sustainably. It represents the views of UK airports to Government, Parliament and Regulators to secure policy outcomes that help deliver our mission. The AOA represents some 70 UK airports and general aviation airfields in the UK. For more information, please visit www.airportsuk.org.
