A total of 80% of UK consumers support a rethink of Air Passenger Duty (APD), according to YouGov survey published today.
The poll – commissioned by EasyJet – gathered the views of 1,961 consumers through an online survey between October 23 and 26. It comes days ahead of the introduction of APD on November 1.
The majority of consumers (80%) believe the tax should be extended to cover cargo and private jets, which will be exempt from the charge. Almost two-thirds of those questioned (65%) agreed that APD should also cover foreign transfer passengers and a further 69% say the tax should be designed to tackle climate change.
EasyJet chief executive Andy Harrison said: “APD is a daft tax that the government promised to reform. It broke its promise and increased the tax burden on the average family instead.
“People don’t understand why their tax is going up again, while pampered fat cats on private jets, cargo aircraft and foreign transfer passengers still don’t pay any tax at all. How can the government justify a tax break for 20 million foreign transfer passengers while charging a British family of four ₤44 to go to Europe?
“We need to make air tax greener and fairer now. It should be reformed from a poll tax into a flight tax that taxes emissions, not families.”