Most British air carriers are protesting the proposed replacement by the government for Air Passenger Duty, or APD.  Along with the majority of British air carriers, the United States and various other air carriers are also in protest.

Breaking ranks with the others is Easyjet who has decided to support the decision by the British government to replace Air Passenger Duty.  Easyjet will begin a massive campaign to advertise its change in stance with the slogan “Air tax is changing.  Cut out the subsidies.”

Currently the Air passenger Duty is charged at a set amount based on whether the flight is European or long distance.   Other factors that help to determine this tax is how many passengers are flying in each class of the plane.

As the United States government disagrees with the replacement for the air passenger duty their embassy in London said that “although cast as an environmental measure, appears in reality to constitute nothing more than a device for generating additional revenue from the airline community.”  The British government is forecasting it will collect around five hundred million pounds of extra revenue because of the proposed tax change on aircraft.  They also are forecasting that this figure will grow in the years after.

Easyjet would like to see those air carriers that operate older aircraft get taxed more but does agree that everyone should pay a general tax. The spokesman for Easyjet, Toby Nicol, said “Our message to the Government is: stand up to the siren voices in the industry.  For every person who gets an opt-out, a free ride or a subsidy, someone else is paying and it’s not going to be our passengers.

www.easyjet.com