A suggestion that the government is considering charging higher taxes on flights from congested airports in south east England has been condemned.
Cheapflights chairman Hugo Burge attacked the idea as “negative, short term and uninspiring” which can only hold back economic growth and development.
He was responding to claims that the coalition is studying plans to charge higher taxes on flights from the south east and lower duty on journeys from airports in other regions like northern England.
“The idea of reducing congestion by deterring passengers, rather than investing for growth has a painful lack of logic,” Burge said.
“UK Ltd needs to encourage visitors and business to the UK and not put up tax barriers to entry to one of the country’s busiest regions.”
Burge conceded that the idea of reducing air taxes in the regions has “the hallmark of logical thinking and some common sense” adding that Air Passenger Duty is not charged on domestic flights to and from Scottish islands.
But he added: “What is true for the regions is also true for the south east – what is needed to stimulate the investment required to improve the current situation is a policy of tax incentives rather than additional taxes.”
Burge called for airport operators rather than passengers to be responsible for tackling congestion.
“A higher tax should not be part of any solution as long as it will be passed on to travellers,” he said. “Let’s make the airport authority, not travellers, accountable for the change.”
He described Gatwick and London City Airport as examples of an improving customer experience based on investment and forward thinking.
“Increasing taxes to decrease economic growth does not make sense and is not what we would hope to hear from the government,” added Burge.
“Apart from the threat of higher fuel prices, the UK air industry is already shouldering massive increases in taxes. This may be fair in the context of our national debt, but the right balance has to be sought to ensure our economic prosperity in the future.
“The UK is in an international marketplace – if the international market wants to primarily come to the south east it would seem foolish to try to divert it away to the regions.”