UK Airline Industry Suffers With Increased Taxes from Government

The UK government is being pressured for a response to demands that they reverse their most recent increases for taxes placed on airlines which have been affecting ticket prices causing them to rise steadily. The new regulations take effect today and air travel industry officials have said that the new tax increase could be hazardous for the already struggling industry.

The increased taxes, although being dolled out by the government across many industries, have hit the air travel industry hardest, as only a few years back prior to the recession the UK government had aggressively encouraged the industry to begin expanding.

Now with taxes increasing to cover and curb carbon emissions, the airline industry is suffering with ticket prices increasing and previously free services being removed from flights. The increase in number of passengers due to budget airlines which have sprung up recently, coupled with the looming recession has caused the entire industry to face disaster as every airline attempts to weather the harsh economy and increasing “green” fees.

Initially, industry players welcomed small green measures which saw an increase in some taxes. However, those taxes have continually been increasing, culminating in today’s regulations being brought forward and passed. Currently, the increased taxes have been and will continue to affect ticket prices as well as air travel on a whole.

Although, the green taxes to help curb emissions in the airline industry are agreed among industry leaders as a necessity, there are worries that the UK government has picked a bad time as the industry is currently weakened, and increasing taxes now could harm the industry permanently.