Air Passenger Duty: Sky high?

After a long day at the office all you can think about is your planned holiday to Portland, Jamaica in a few months time. This is the only thought that brings you joy each day. However, this thought will cost you and your family of four, £300 more than you anticipated. This cost is called Air Passenger Duty.

Air passenger duty (APD) is a tax on flights leaving from the United Kingdom. When the tax was introduced in 1994 by Kenneth Clarke it was intended to be a "green" tax to tackle the issues of pollution caused by flying. However, this tax is used solely for government revenue. It was originally £5 for short haul flights and £10 for long haul however, over the past few years the tax has risen by 360%. In 2011/12, the government collected £2.2 billion from air passenger duty alone.

APD is currently arranged as a band system which consists of four bands and each band is charged according to the distance from London to the capital of each destination. Many of the UK's minority ethnic community fall within Band C, countries' capitals which are between 4,000 to 6,000 miles away from London. This includes all the countries in the Caribbean as well as India and Nigeria. These countries are taxed £81 per seat and a proposed £83 from April 2013.

Many argue that the banding system is extremely inconsistent and is flawed in many ways. The main flaw of the banding system is that those who are travelling to Jamaica (4,700 miles away) are required to pay more duty than those travelling to Hawaii (7,000 miles away). This is simply because the bands are calculated on how far the capital of each destination is from London. Another flaw of APD is people who are travelling on premium economy are required to pay the same rates as those paying for a first class fare, despite the significant difference of ticket prices.

This affects BME communities greatly; with this tax in force it discourages people from flying abroad to visit their families in the Caribbean because of the high ticket costs. This is unacceptable for a country which has a significant Caribbean population. The APD has also deterred many UK tourists from visiting the Caribbean islands, thus affecting the economy of some Caribbean countries because tourism is one of the biggest contributors towards it.

The issue of the APD does not solely affect Caribbean countries the issue is the same for Nigerians (Lagos 4,300 away from London), Pakistan (Islamabad 5,000 miles away from London).

Caribbean News Network (CANN) and Caribdirect, in conjunction with the Trinidad and Tobago High Commission are organising a seminar today to discuss the impact of the government's Air Passenger Duty (APD) on the economies and tourism industry of the Caribbean.

Kenny Williams an organiser of the seminar stated that:

Many people are unaware of APD, hence why we are having the event. It is important for people to know"

From this seminar they hope to develop a strategy for averting the planned increased proposed for 2013.

Anthony Iban