Anti-APD email campaign passes 10,000 mark

Thursday, 05 July 2012 01:32

Aviation News - International News

More than 10,000 people have emailed their MPs to complain about the high cost of Air Passenger Duty in just over two weeks.

Darren Caplan, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association

(Photo : Courtesy Google)

The Fair Tax on Flying alliance launched the campaign to get 100,000 people to email their MPs to protest against APD on June 18 and it has already achieved more than 10 per cent of its target.

The alliance is also urging more MPs to sign an early day motion asking for the government to commission a study on the economic impact of APD, so far 51 MPs have signed the motion.

Darren Caplan, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, said: “That 10,000 people have now written to their MP is just the tip of the iceberg: Air Passenger Duty is now one of the most despised stealth taxes in the UK and we hope that many, many more people let their MP know what they think.”

Fair Tax on Flying has set up a new website which includes a template email that people can use to send an anti-APD message to their MPs within a few seconds.

Simon Buck, chief executive of the British Air Transport Association, added: “While we welcome the activism of so many people on Twitter and Facebook, it will not be until tens of thousands more throw their weight behind the afairtaxonflying.org campaign that we can expect the treasury to start taking it seriously.”

One of the MPs to sign the early day motion is Graham Brady, who is chairman of the Conservative party’s backbench 1922 Committee.

He said: “The UK already has the highest air passenger taxes anywhere in the world and this is harming our competitiveness as a nation as well as adding unreasonably to the cost of living for millions of people. I hope that the Treasury will be persuaded to look again at the impact of this damaging tax.”

* To see the latest rates of APD and the planned increase due in April 2013, click here.

(ABTN/AC)