The pressure is on the UK Coalition Government to reduce – or even, amazingly, to abolish – Air Passenger Duty (APD).
The pressure is on the UK Coalition Government to reduce – or even, amazingly, to abolish – Air Passenger Duty (APD).
Custom byline text:
Harry Reid
Airlines, tour operators, airport authorities, business travellers and holidaymakers are all being urged to join the growing campaign against this controversial tax.
The Government should ignore this loud, self-interested clamour. It is selfish short-termism at its worst. Indeed there is a case for further increasing APD, although it would perhaps be more efficient to charge it per plane rather than per passenger, which might help to deal with the scandal of half-empty planes polluting the skies. The businessmen who started the cheap flights travel boom a couple of generations ago worked out that it made sense to have full planes in both directions, though this elementary logic seems recently to have been lost somewhere in the clouds (some of them no doubt caused by emissions).
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Our green dream must not be lost in clouds
The pressure is on the UK Coalition Government to reduce – or even, amazingly, to abolish – Air Passenger Duty (APD).
Airlines, tour operators, airport authorities, business travellers and holidaymakers are all being urged to join the growing campaign against this controversial tax.
The Government should ignore this loud, self-interested clamour. It is selfish short-termism at its worst. Indeed there is a case for further increasing APD, although it would perhaps be more efficient to charge it per plane rather than per passenger, which might help to deal with the scandal of half-empty planes polluting the skies. The businessmen who started the cheap flights travel boom a couple of generations ago worked out that it made sense to have full planes in both directions, though this elementary logic seems recently to have been lost somewhere in the clouds (some of them no doubt caused by emissions).
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We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.
Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.
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