APD charges 'discriminate against Caribbean'

Government proposals to increase Air Passenger Duty (APD) arbitrarily discriminate against flights to the Caribbean, the House of Commons has been told.

Liberal Democrat MP Sarah Teather said that destinations in the Caribbean will incur a higher tax than those on the US West Coast, even though they are closer to the UK.

Her Early Day Motion has been welcomed as an indication that Westminster is finally waking up to the significance of APD as a major election issue next year.

From November, economy passengers will pay £50 APD per return flight on destinations more than 4,000 miles away – Band C of the new grading system.

That charge, which will rise again to £75 next year, is calculated against the distance between London and the capital city of the concerned country. But as Ms Teather noted, this gives an unfair advantage to travellers heading to the West Coast of America.

"Any duty should be based on the level of carbon emissions produced by flights rather than arbitrary zones based on location of a country's capital city," her motion read.

"The new banding system will result in flights to the Caribbean incurring a higher tax than flights to the West Coast of the United States, despite being closer in distance to the UK."

Washington DC, the US capital, is 3,675 miles away from London. This places America firmly in Band B, which means flights to Los Angeles (5,454 miles), Seattle (4,799 miles) and other West Coast destinations will be taxed at a lower rate of £45 (rising to £60).

By contrast, passengers on flights to Puerto Rico, which is just 4,231 miles from London, will pay the higher fee – even though their journey produces far less carbon emissions.

Speaking about the discrepancy earlier this year, Jamaica's Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, concluded that APD is an "inherently unfair tax and not the least bit green".

"The structure of APD ... suggests that the impact of a flight to Jamaica or Barbados is greater than one to ... Los Angeles," he said. "Why should Caribbean countries with relatively low emissions suffer the effects of an environmental tax, in favour of the world's biggest polluter?"

Opponents of APD launched an online petition last week and it has already attracted 3,000 signatures, making it one of the most popular lobbies at number10.gov.uk.

"We have had great support from the travel industry," Carol Hay of the Carribean Tourism Organisation  told Travel Weekly. "MPs are realising that voters do care about this issue."

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