Newcastle International Airport Critical of New "Plane Tax"
The UK government's plans to introduce a new "plane tax" have been criticised by airport bosses.
Newcastle International Airport, one of the UK's leading regional hubs, says the proposed Aviation Duty "has the potential to tax UK aviation out of the sky".
The duty is proposed a new tax that will replace the existing Air Passenger Duty.
Instead of airlines paying tax per passenger, they will have to pay duty based on the aircraft's weight and distance flown.
However, Newcastle International officials described the Aviation Duty plan as effectively being "no more than a revenue-generating scheme imposed...on an aviation industry that has become a soft target for the Treasury".
They said it was a discriminatory tax that would mean the UK's airports would lose out, with the smaller regional hubs hit the hardest.
Graeme Mason, Newcastle International's head of planning and corporate affairs, said the airport had written to the government as part of the consultation process to voice its concerns about the plans.
Government Wants UK Aviation Duty By November 2009
Originally announced at the government's Pre-Budget Report in 2007, the reform was confirmed in the Budget last month. The government hopes it will be implemented on 1st November 2009.
The proposals involve airlines paying tax according to the weight of their aircraft and the distance of their flights, rather than per passenger as they do now.
In the Treasury's consultation document, the government says it hopes the reformed duty will deter airlines from flying half-full aircraft.
The duty would mean that all flights originating from the UK would need to pay tax, with the amount they paid depending where they were flying to.
Direct long-haul services from the UK would have to pay the most, with domestic air services paying the duty twice (once on the outbound leg, once on the return).
Long-haul flights via another hub (either UK or continental) would need to pay differing elements of duty based upon where their domestic and outbound legs originated from.
The three-month consultation period into the plans closed today, Thursday 24th April.
Aviation Duty Tax Would 'Damage UK Airports'
Commenting on the plans, Graeme Mason said the plans would mean UK airports and their passengers would lose out, initially because the airlines would have to pass on the duty in the form of higher ticket prices - but also because the tax would mean the UK's airports would become less attractive to airlines looking to expand.
Mason commented: "The government is discriminating against UK airlines and airports in favour of overseas airlines and airports...[it] is failing to act in the best interests of the country by introducing Aviation Duty in its current form, and by 'going it alone' on a national rather than a European basis".
He said the duty was effectively a tax against regional airports. Drawing attention to the fact that airports further away from London would be taxed more, he argued: "It's more difficult for an airport such as ours to accept these changes because first we have a lower average income here, so any extra flight taxes would have a bigger impact. Any extra flight taxes would have a bigger impact [at regional airports]...it's the same as being punished for having a poorer, geographically distant and smaller population".
Mason said the duty would have "a disproportional impact on the North East" in particular because of its inferior economic performance to other regions in the UK, especially the south-east. He explained: "North East England suffers enough from its poor connectivity to the rest of the world, and if government is serious about developing our regional economy, it should be looking for measures to support aviation in this part of the country, not actively helping to destroy it".
He said the airport had urged the government to reconsider the possible effects of the change.
A Treasury spokesperson said the consultation process meant any airport was free to air its opinions.
Source - Airport International's Aviation Correspondent
Other Recent UK Airport News -
Commission Reports on BAA's UK Airport Ownership
