Airport taxes

[kitch50]

I have just seen on the news that airport taxes are going up again which means an extra £240 for a family of 4 to travel to Florida. Enough already !!

[Lesley S]

I just saw that as well. BA are not going to apply it to guests as they feel guests pay enough.

[SteveandJan]

they know its an easy way of raising revenue, we have no choice other than not to go on holiday. Its the one thing I look forward to after working hard all year.

I remember it started out as £5 per passenger

[Mo Green]

All of America falls into Band B and the Air Passenger Duty rates for economy will increase from £45 to £60 (an increase of £60 for a family of 4). For those in any other class it will increase from £90 to £120 (an increase of £120 for a family of 4).

Mo

[Jill]

It will not just affect us travelling on holiday but also affect our tourist trade.

This increase was set by the old government and I guess the new one has seen fit to leave it in the hopes of raising revenue - but could it leave us with less visitors so a loss all round?

[Sniff]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Lesley S
I just saw that as well. BA are not going to apply it to guests as they feel guests pay enough.


[/quote]
I doubt they will keep that up for long. BA can't afford to subsidise passengers.

[Albert the Frog]

I heard on the radio that the Netherlands tried this but when they compared the revenue raised with the revenue lost in tourism they very quickly cancelled it-it also means that an indirect flight via paris/amsterdam to the states can work out a whole lot cheaper because you only pay the lower rate of tax for the european leg-there was a suggestion that if it got worse some companies might set up a continental europe hub to avoid the higher rates-not good for the economy

[Robert5988]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:it also means that an indirect flight via paris/amsterdam to the states can work out a whole lot cheaper because you only pay the lower rate of tax for the european leg-there was a suggestion that if it got worse some companies might set up a continental europe hub to avoid the higher rates-not good for the economy[/quote]

However it has been ruled that on such a journey e.g. London - Paris(or any European city) - USA will be treated the same as a direct flight and the same taxes paid.

Obviously if someone booked say, a Ryanair flight to Paris(or any European city) and then booked another flight to the USA the UK authorities would not be any the wiser(or would they?) However technically it is avoidance of paying tax.(UK taxpayers)

This subject has been discussed a lot in the frequent Flyer forums.

[alastair]

Tax avoidance is not necessarily illegal. Sir Phillip Green being a good example.

[Robert5988]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Tax avoidance is not necessarily illegal. Sir Phillip Green being a good example.[/quote]

Agreed, but a semantic discusion on 'tax avoidance' and 'tax evasion' is not really helpful.

Book an indirect long haul fare from UK via Europe with any airline and you will pay taxes appropriate to the long haul destination.

That doesn't apply if you stay in Europe for an extended period(2 days???)