Advertisement

Saving Flybe By Cutting Airline Tax Would Be ‘Exact Opposite Of Tackling Climate Change’

The government is reportedly considering cutting air passenger duty to save regional airline Flybe 
The government is reportedly considering cutting air passenger duty to save regional airline Flybe

A possible government deal to cut the cost of flights to save regional airline Flybe is “the exact opposite” of what is needed to tackle climate change, environmental campaigners have argued.

According to numerous reports, chancellor Sajid Javid is considering cutting air passenger duty (APD) – a tax on passenger flights from UK airports – on all domestic flights to save Flybe from collapse. The firm has said it runs 38% of all domestic flights within the UK.

“The government cannot claim to be a global leader on tackling the climate emergency one day, then making the most carbon-intensive kind of travel cheaper the next,” Greenpeace UK’s policy director Doug Parr said.

Cutting the cost of domestic flights while allowing train fares to rise “is the exact opposite of what we need if we’re to cut climate-wrecking emissions from transport,” he said.

“The aviation sector has got away for years with increasing its carbon footprint. The last thing we need is another incentive for them to pollute more.”

Friends of the Earth campaigners have also called on the government to invest more in the rail system, instead of making flying around the UK cheaper.

“These short UK trips are exactly the ones we need to avoid,” said Jenny Bates, calling potential plans to cut APD “unacceptable” and “reckless”.

Green MP Caroline Lucas said cutting APD was “utterly inconsistent with any serious commitment” to tackle the climate crisis.

Flybe – which operates more UK domestic flights than any other airline – has long argued that APD unfairly affects its domestic customers.

Under current rules, domestic passengers are charged...

Continue reading on HuffPost