Travel trade leaders have threatened the Treasury with legal action over the increase in Air Passenger Duty, with confusion predicted at airports as airlines demand payments at check-in.
APD doubled today, leaving the industry with the problem of dealing with the extra tax on bookings made before the rise was announced on December 6.
ABTA and the Federation of Tour Operators wrote to the Treasury on Wednesday inviting it to reconsider and warning of High Court action.
FTO director-general Andy Cooper said: “We’re prepared to go all the way. We believe APD is illegal under the Chicago Convention of 1944 [which limits tax on aviation], and the treatment of tour operators could be in breach of the Human Rights Act.”
A group of FTO members are ready to finance legal action.
Separately, ABTA warned agents who have used their own credit cards to make bookings on clients’ behalf could face hefty APD bills.
Carriers’ conditions of carriage allow them to pass on the increase to passengers. Some have chosen to absorb it – like British Airways, United Airlines Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, and SAS.
Others have asked customers to pay – including EasyJet, Monarch, Ryanair, Flybe, BMI and Virgin Atlantic.
All expect some passengers to turn up with APD unpaid. EasyJet will have special payment desks at airports, while Virgin is offering money-off vouchers on future flights to those paying in advance.
About 40% of overseas airlines are expected to collect the tax at airports.