Travel industry reacts to government plans
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Associations and airlines across the UK have reacted to the policies that are likely to happen under the new Conservative-Liberal Democrats Government. ABTA were pleased the coalition Government would change Air Passenger Duty but called it to re-think about scraping plans for a third runway at Heathrow. We have always stated that the travel industry should be taxed fairly and that a system more closely aligned to the efficiency of aircraft and distance travelled is the fairest way to achieve this, and we welcome the Government’s move to adopt a per plane tax,” said ABTA Cheif Executive Mark Tanzer. He added that the tax had to be set a ‘punitive’ level and should be scrapped when the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme comes into force in 2012. easyJet also welcomed the reform on the APD tax. “The two Government parties have made a firm coalition agreement to reform the daft APD, which taxes full planes but not empty ones,” said esayJet Chief Executive Andy Harrison. “It’s now time to act and make Air Passenger Duty a fairer and greener tax without increasing the tax burden on the flying public”. Birmingham Airport welcomed the Government’s plans to stop expansion at Heathrow and said it had the capacity to take extra passengers to ‘utilise underused assets’. “Aviation has its part to play in an integrated transport system and rail must play a part in distributing the demand for international gateways to airports that have capacity. Birmingham is a prime example as it is just over an hour from London,” said Birmingham Airport CEO Paul Kehoe. In a statement released today, BAA said “We will work with the new government to ensure that airport policy provides the strong international trading connections on which the UK’s jobs and future competitiveness depend”.
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