Easyjet are stepping up the campaign against the UK Government and APD.

The press release can be found below, but you can also find out more information from a new website they have created and a youtube video!

Website: http://www.taxplanesnotpeople.com/
Youtube: http://youtu.be/7anGAtykX2g

It will be interesting to see if this takes hold, I know there are very mixed views on the subject.

What are people's thoughts?



The press statement released today states:

easyJet calls on Government to halt destructive changes to aviation tax

easyJet today publishes an independent report on the Government’s proposed changes to Air Passenger Duty (APD) which predicts that the proposals would:

reduce UK passenger numbers by 3 million per year
increase CO² emissions by up to 360,000 tonnes per year
reduce tourist spending in the UK by £475m a year
reduce UK GDP by £2.6 billion per year
lead to the loss of up to 77,000 jobs

The Government’s proposals, published in March, would increase APD from £12 to (up to) £16 per person for flights up to 2000 miles and reduce the rates and number of tax bands on long haul flights. The report, by Frontier Economics and commissioned by easyJet, finds that although the changes would reduce the total number of flights they would increase CO² emissions by encouraging more long haul flights.

easyJet has long campaigned against APD, favouring instead a per plane tax which would be fairer on passengers and encourage airlines to be greener. The Conservatives and Lib Dems both pledged to move to a greener tax in their 2010 election manifestos and the Coalition Government committed to introduce a ‘per flight’ tax but appear to have reversed the policy.

easyJet CEO, Carolyn McCall is calling on the Government to think again on aviation taxation: “This independent report shows that the Government’s proposals on APD would be bad for the environment and the economy. APD has already risen by 140% since 2007 on short haul flights. This report provides convincing evidence that the Government should not impose further increases in APD on short haul flights and should rethink its policy on aviation taxation.
“easyJet is in favour of a move to a per plane tax. Four out of five British passengers would be better off under such a tax and, more importantly, it would encourage the industry to fly more efficiently.

“We believe British families and businesses will join our campaign to ‘tax planes not people’ and we’re encouraging them to sign up on easyJet.com ”

easyJet’s public campaign ‘Tax Planes Not People - fight the Government's flight tax increase’ aims to unify consumers against the proposed tax increase and can be accessed via:http://easyjet.com/taxplanesnotpeople. Today easyJet has launched a multimedia campaign including press adverts, a photo opportunity and an online petition. The activity started this morning with the delivery of £5m to the HM Treasury, representing the weekly APD tax collected from easyJet passengers.