Dear Traveller,
Air Passenger Duty is one of the most unjust taxes out there. The UK Government has been quietly increasing APD by huge amounts and claiming it is an environmental tax. Yet, there's not a shred of evidence to suggest the £2billion+ currently raised is going towards environmental or sustainable projects.
Now the UK Government wants to again hike the ridiculously high tax on your holiday or business trip - in November this year and next - by up to 113%.
The tax increases will hurt passengers, the airline industry and developing regions such as the Caribbean and Africa which rely on the airline industry to power their economies, and enable family and friends based in the UK to visit loved ones.
You'll find more details below on why APD has got out of control and I urge you to write to your local MP setting out why the planned increases don't make sense.
Virgin Atlantic supports proposals for a global emissions trading scheme for all airlines, being proposed at this December's Copenhagen Summit. The proceeds will go towards finding clean energy solutions.
We don't support backdoor taxes which hurt consumers and do nothing to tackle climate change through better technology.
Regards,
Richard
P.S. As a matter of interest I and the Virgin Group have pledged that any profits we take from Virgin Atlantic over the next ten years will be invested into clean fuels. We are hopeful that we are close to developing a clean fuel to power our aircraft and other people's planes in the future.