Jet2 chief executive Steve Heapy has urged Chancellor Rachel Reeves to stop using the airline and holiday industry as a “cash cow”, warning that any further increase in aviation taxes will hit lower earners hardest and risk pricing families out of foreign travel.
Heapy — who runs Britain’s largest package holiday provider and the UK’s third-biggest airline by passenger numbers — said that higher taxes would “inevitably” be passed on to passengers, pushing up fares and dampening demand.
“As we all know, we can’t escape the fundamental laws of economics,” he said. “Increased prices could result in decreased demand, and that’s not good because the people who will be unable to afford a holiday will be the lowest earning members of society. It would be a perverse outcome if flying became something for the rich and privileged.”
The warning comes as speculation grows that Reeves may turn to the aviation sector for additional revenue in next week’s Budget. Air passenger duty (APD) — paid by almost every air traveller departing from a UK airport — last increased in April and is scheduled for another rise next spring. Current APD rates range from £14 for domestic flights to £224 for long-haul journeys over 5,500 miles.
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