Demands for reform of the UK's air passenger duty (APD) are increasing, with IAG ceo Willie Walsh claiming passengers paid GBP3.17 billion in 2014/15 - an increase of 824 per cent since its first full year of operation in 1995/96.
Over the same period, inflation rose by just 82 per cent, Walsh said.
And despite rules that come into force this weekend removing APD from the under 12s (and from under 16s from next March), the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates APD income will rise by a further GBP500 million over the term of the next Parliament and the British Air Transport Association (BATA) says APD could raise GBP3.7 billion a year by 2019/20.
"The UK has the least competitive tax on flying in the world and is the highest in Europe by a big margin," said BATA.
"Germany has the second highest air passenger tax in Europe, but it raised just GBP745 million in 2014. Most European countries don't tax their citizens or visitors to fly abroad."
With the UK election early May, both the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) have set out their desire to see APD abolished in their respective manifestos.
This means a hung Parliament next week could see more political pressure on the new government for a drop in APD.
Bookies late April had the Conservative party as favourite to achieve a majority of UK seats, but not enough to form a government in its own right.
The SNP has offered its services to the Labour party, with the latest polls claiming the SNP could take every seat in Scotland, giving it crucial leverage over the socialists.
Demands for reform of the UK's air passenger duty (APD) are increasing, with IAG ceo Willie Walsh claiming passengers paid GBP3.17 billion in 2014/15 - an increase of 824 per cent since its first full year of operation in 1995/96.
Over the same period, inflation rose by just 82 per cent, Walsh said.
And despite rules that come into force this weekend removing APD from the under 12s (and from under 16s from next March), the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates APD income will rise by a further GBP500 million over the term of the next Parliament and the British Air Transport Association (BATA) says APD could raise GBP3.7 billion a year by 2019/20.
"The UK has the least competitive tax on flying in the world and is the highest in Europe by a big margin," said BATA.
"Germany has the second highest air passenger tax in Europe, but it raised just GBP745 million in 2014. Most European countries don't tax their citizens or visitors to fly abroad."
With the UK election early May, both the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) have set out their desire to see APD abolished in their respective manifestos.
This means a hung Parliament next week could see more political pressure on the new government for a drop in APD.
Bookies late April had the Conservative party as favourite to achieve a majority of UK seats, but not enough to form a government in its own right.
The SNP has offered its services to the Labour party, with the latest polls claiming the SNP could take every seat in Scotland, giving it crucial leverage over the socialists.
