Short-haul Flights in the UK could be curtailed
August 29, 2007
Tories consider plans to force short-haul air passengers on to high-speed trains
Greg Hurst, Political Correspondent
Plans that would curb drastically the number of flights taken by British travellers are being considered by the Conservatives with new taxes on air travel and a halt to airport expansion.
Short-haul flights would receive particular attention: VAT would be levied on fuel for domestic flights for the first time and airlines would be forced to give over airport slots to long-haul trips. All flights would be subject to a separate per-flight tax based on the amount of CO2 generated, replacing the air passenger duty and shifting the burden from passengers to airlines, although this might force up ticket prices anyway. The proposals also include plans for a moratorium on airport expansion pending attempts to free capacity at existing airports by restricting short-haul flights and forcing travellers to switch to trains.
The plans have been drawn up by a policy review group looking at quality of life issues, whose report is due to be published next month before the Tory conference in Blackpool. The recommendations have been put forward by one of its working groups focusing on transport policy and it was unclear last night whether they had been accepted in full by the commission’s co-chair-men John Gummer, the former Environment Secretary, and Zac Goldsmith, the wealthy environmentalist.
The group has rejected a widely ridiculed proposal by David Cameron to restrict people to one return short-haul flight per year at a standard rate of tax and charge more for subsequent aircraft trips. This idea of a “green air miles allowance”, put forward in a consultation document, Greener Skies, published by Mr Cameron in March, was attacked by airlines and tourist bodies and caused unease among some Conservatives. It has been quietly dropped as impractical.
The group is determined to press ahead with moves to force travellers to abandon short-haul flights in favour of rail for domestic and nearby European destinations or face steep rises in taxes or fares. Its report is based on a calculation that about a fifth of flights from Heathrow are to destinations easily reached by rail, according to the Evening Standard. The most popular short-haul destinations are Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels and, within Britain, Edinburgh, Manchester, Glasgow and Newcastle.
The Government’s plans to allow a third runway at Heathrow would be unnecessary if such journeys were transferred to rail and airlines were forced to reallocate their take-off and landing slots for long-haul travel, the report concludes. Plans for a second runway at Stansted could also be shelved, it argues.
It represents a gamble that voters will put bold environmental policies before personal convenience, although heightened security measures and resulting queues at airports have already begun to alter the equation. The opening of the Channel Tunnel rail link from St Pancras will also cut journey times to Paris and Brussels by 20 minutes.
George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, has made clear that he intends to use green taxes to raise revenue for other policy pledges and tax reductions in the party’s manifesto, such as a commitment to support marriage. A Conservative spokesman said: “We will not be commenting on the report until it is published but, as with all of the policy groups, everything contained in the report will be proposals to the Shadow Cabinet and will not necessarily become party policy.”
The Liberal Democrats intensified the battle for the green vote by publishing their own environment policy, including a series of taxes on aviation to fund the party’s plans for income tax cuts for the low paid.