The UK should follow Ireland and axe its air travel tax to stimulate jobs and tourism growth.
The demand to scrap Air Passenger Duty came from Ryanair the day after the Irish government abolished its version of the travel tax.
The Irish carrier has launched 21 new routes from Dublin, Knock and Shannon airports, which will result in more than 1 million additional passengers, as a direct result of the abolition.
A spokesman for the airline said: “Ryanair this week launched 21 new routes to and from Ireland in direct response to the Irish Government’s decision to abolish Irish APD, which will result in a million extra passengers travelling through Irish airports this year.
“This is another prime example of how other EU countries have returned to growth by scrapping tourist taxes and the UK should follow suit.”
He cited an independent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers last year which suggested that the abolition of APD would yield 0.46% of UK GDP in the first year and at least £16 billion within three years, while leading to the creation of 60,000 new jobs.
“Ryanair is again calling on the UK government to axe the tax to stimulate tourism and growth,” he said.