The head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Willie Walsh, has branded the increase in Air Passenger Duty (APD) Tax as a “cash grab”.
Such a report from FlightGlobal highlights the ex-CEO of British Airways’ disdain at the decision from the UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
Without further ado, let’s get into it…
What Did Willie Walsh Say About The APD Tax Increase?
In the report from FlightGlobal, IATA Head Willie Walsh had this to say on the increase in APD Tax for non-economy passengers:
“The prime minister has broken the pledge he made in September not to raise taxes on flying”.
“It’s a short-sighted cash-grab of a government that has run out of ideas, competence and basic integrity.”
“This damages business connectivity at a time when post-Brexit Britain is in desperate need of foreign investment and better trade links”.
It is unclear whether the UK Government will respond to these quotes directly from IATA Head Willie Walsh.
Should Non-Economy Fliers Pay More?
UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said in his budget this week that this one-off adjustment on APD is for non-economy passengers.
So standard economy passengers will not receive what is being perceived as a negative thing to growth in the sector.
Hunt mentioned that measures like this were to help stem the rate of inflation within the UK economy.
This will cause divisive debate. On the one hand, economy passengers may believe that that is the cost of flying premium.
On the other hand, premium fares are significantly more expensive than Economy fares, so there may be an inequality ongoing with this.
Overall…
All eyes will of course be on how much of a negative impact raising APD Tax on non-economy passengers will have.
Many groups are praising the action from Chancellor Hunt, saying that this should have been done ages ago.
However, sceptics are asking questions into the viability of this, and whether it will put carrier’s at a disadvantage as a result when selling premium seats, or that the increase in APD Tax is indeed a cash grab, as argued by IATA’s Head.
Either way, it is going to be interesting to see what comes of this, or whether anything will happen at all.
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