Commenting on today’s emergency Budget, in which Chancellor George Osborne announced that the Government will consult on replacing air passenger duty with a per-plane tax, Friends of the Earth’s transport campaigner Richard Dyer said:

 “Switching to a per-plane tax will help to ensure that planes fly full, but the Government must also increase the amount of tax raised in order to help address the national budget deficit.

“Aviation is lightly taxed compared to other industries because it pays no fuel tax or VAT – so is effectively being paid to pollute at the expense of the public purse.

“Bolder action is needed to ensure aviation takes responsibility for its role in tackling climate change. The Government must scrap all plans to expand British airports – and instead focus on providing fast, reliable and affordable rail services.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. Air Passenger Duty is due to increase in November 2010. The Conservatives have not committed to increasing tax on aviation but have indicated they are in favour of a per-plane tax. In their election manifesto the Liberal Democrats pledged to increase aviation taxation by £2.6billion (2.2 APD increase + 0.4 domestic flights tax). For more information see: http://www.libdems.org.uk/siteFiles/resources/PDF/Tax%20Plans%¬
20-%20Briefing%20Document.pdf. Switching to a per-plane tax will cover currently untaxed freight flights.