Any attempt by the Government to increase air passenger duty to fight carbon emissions would be a tax on the poor, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou has claimed.
The easyGroup founder told the ABTA Travel Convention in Marbella that should Gordon Brown double the duty from £5 it would do little to discourage the overall number of flights from the UK.
Instead, he said it would simply hit the poorest hardest. “We’re responsible (for the environment) and we have to do something about it but I hope the Chancellor will resist the temptation to put in higher air passenger duty,” he said.
“It would be a tax on the poor as the second homers who have just bought a £250,000 property abroad are going to carry on flying.”
He also admitted it is hanks to second homers that EasyJet is is still around toady, adding: “They were what kept us afloat in the first couple of years”
He also dismissed accusations the airline was culturally damaging by allowing drunken stag parties to travel to cheap European cities by saying the airline has also allowed greater contact between families. He claimed it has had a positive impact on world peace because different people get to know one another better.
He said: “I think there is less chance of two nations fighting each other if there’s a lot of cultural interaction between them.”