Liverpool Airport joins plane tax fight
03.07.08
Liverpool Airport has joined other airports in the North of England to push the Government to rethink plans to hit the airline sector for £500m in extra taxes from next year. Neil Pakey, the airport’s managing director, says Air Passenger Duty (APD) is already making it hard for regional airports like Liverpool to win new routes by adding to the cost of tickets, and the added taxt will make this worse.
Economy passengers currently pay £10 APD on low-cost flights to European destinations and £40 for long-haul flights after taxes doubled last year. Premium economy, business and first class passengers pay twice that rate. However, the Government plans to replace APD, currently levied on individual passengers, with a new tax on planes from next November. The Government expects to earn another £500m in taxes as a result of the change.
Mr Pakey says airlines cut back on routes from the North as a result of the tax rise last year, as Northern airports are more sensitive to higher costs. In April BA ended its Manchester to New York route after 40 years, a move Mr Pakey says was down in part to increased 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 than those on the continent. He says Liverpool Airport and the other hubs want to make clear to Government that any further tax rises will make the UK even less competitive. The airport is 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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