Commenting on the Chancellor backing a third runway at
Heathrow in her speech today (29 January) Paul Tuohy, Chief
Executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said:
“If the Government is determined to expand airports, add hundreds
of thousands of additional flights to the skies and increase
carbon emissions by millions of tonnes each year, then it needs
to start taxing the aviation industry fairly. Unlike in many
other countries, aviation fuel in the UK is completely tax free,
providing airlines with a multibillion-pound tax break. With
airlines now set to cash in on future flights, it's the perfect
time for the aviation industry to start paying its fair share of
fuel tax with the money raised invested in clean, sustainable
public transport to ensure green growth.”
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- A T&E report found that taxing kerosene on flights
could raise £6.7 billion a year for the Treasury.
- Campaign for Better Transport estimates suggest that taxing
kerosene for just domestic flights at 33p per litre would raise
£160 million a year. Reaching international bilateral agreements,
e.g. with the EU to join a scheme for intra-EU flights, would
raise much more.
- Countries which already tax domestic aviation kerosene
include Argentina, Australia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bolivia,
Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, DRC, Dominica,
Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan,
Jordan, Kenya, Laos, Mexico, Myanmar, Nepal, Norway, Paraguay,
Peru, Philippines, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sri Lanka,
Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Tchad, Thailand, Uganda, US,
Venezuela and Vietnam.
- Campaign for Better Transport included a call to tax domestic
aviation fuel in its 2024 Budget Submission to the Treasury:
https://bettertransport.org.uk/media/tax-private-jets-and-domestic-flights-and-use-2-4bn-to-reopen-railways-instead-says-transport-charity/
- Heathrow's current maximum annual number of flights is
around 475,000. A third runway could enable it to reach
around 740,000 flights a year.
-
New Economics Foundation
research found that airport expansion would cancel out
carbon savings of the Government's Clean Power Plan (CPP).
