Air Passenger Duty should be cut or abolished altogether for children, according to BMI Regional chief executive Cathal O’Connell.
He urged chancellor George Osborne to act on the aviation tax in his autumn statement on December 3.
High APD is holding back the industry, preventing inward investment and discouraging visitors, O’Connell said.
“APD in the UK is the highest in the world and a real blow to business as it makes us less competitive,” he said.
“On average, UK APD is five times higher than the remaining countries in Europe who still charge the tax, while Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, Malta and the Netherlands have scrapped it completely.”
O’Connell added: “Getting rid of APD for children would be a big step towards helping UK families afford a foreign holiday, but scrapping APD across the board would be a real shot in the arm for the whole economy in the longer term.”
Broadway Travel product and marketing director, Jason Waldron, backed the call for cutting the cost of holidays by scrapping APD for children.
“In just 20 years, APD on a long-haul holiday has soared from £40 to £388 for a family of four. On top of that, children aged 2 years or older are taxed at the same rate as adults,” he said.
“We think parents deserve to have a great holiday with their children without being hit by unfair APD.”