‘Hands off our holiday, Mr Taxman!’ Campaign Launched

11th July 2011

New poll shows 3 out of 4 oppose hikes in flight tax

A campaign to persuade the Chancellor to drop planned hikes in the tax levied on all flights leaving the UK is being launched today (Monday 11th July) by Leeds Bradford Airport and Jet2.com, alongside other airlines and airports across the country, as a new poll is released showing 3 out of 4 people think that 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 Air Passenger Duty (APD) will rise by double inflation in 2012.  Passengers are being urged to tell their MPs to say ‘Hands off our holiday’ to the Chancellor.

The campaign, backed by the Airport Operators Association (AOA), Board of Airline Representative 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, John Parkin, Chief Executive of the Leeds Bradford Airport, said: “The UK already has the highest rate of flight tax in the world.  Air Passenger Duty has already gone up by 140% on short haul flights in the last five years. The government already takes nearly £3b in tax from passengers.  Most people simply aren’t aware how much flight tax they pay.” 

Ian Doubtfire, Managing Director, of Jet2.com said, “We offer customers the opportunity to have a great flight experience at the lowest possible fares from their local airport but the government seems hell bent on hitting people’s holidays in what is already a very tough time economically. We support regional airports in calling for lowering or abolishing APD to enable them to develop new business and make tourism more attractive to holidaymakers – both outbound and inbound.”