First Choice has reacted to this week’s doubling of air passenger duty by ditching its own carbon offsetting scheme announced just last week at the ABTA Travel Convention.
Yesterday First Choice chief executive Peter Long signalled his frustration with the Chancellor Gordon Brown’s decision to increase APD saying it had driven a “cart and horses” through its moves to limit its impact on the environment.
First Choice had planned to introduce a £1 charge that would offset the carbon produced by flight with customers having to choose to opt out if they did not want to pay.
In a statement released today First Choice said: “The money being raised by the Government is not being used to combat the effects of flying on the environment, yet the company’s own scheme announced last week has had to be suspended as customer will not pay the additional taxes and then a further contribution on top.”