Originally Posted by
nicolai
APD is both an environmental tax and a revenue raising measure. Why should flights inside the UK be exempt when flights to outside are not? What makes aviation inside the UK so much more special than to outside the UK? Why is my London to Edinburgh flight any different from my London to Amsterdam flight for tax or environmental purposes?
Because aviation inside the UK comprises UK public transport, which is a matter of UK public policy; and travel form the UK to other countries is not (or at least, to nowhere near the same extent).
Countries build roads, railways, etc. to connect their people, almost always with some element of public finance. It's just part and parcel of being a country. And yet, when aviation achieves the same ends, not only does this receive no public finance, but the state seeks to levy a tax upon it! This is illogical, and wrong.