Davidjohnson
I think the higher rate of APD only applies if you book a through ticket, if you take your chance on connections then you'll only be charged the inter European rate, where you go after you have landed in AMS is non of HMRC business nor should it be. In my view the UK current position on APD is not sustainable, it reminds me of the hike's in duty on road fund licence, which contributed to a collapse of in sale for Jaguar/Land Rover, followed by bailout and the car scrapage scheme, if things are as bad at BA as WW alleges, then how long before the goverment either relents or bails them out.
Of course MOL made the APD a target when he gave the impresion that you could fly anywhere in Europe for 99p this got the Greens wound up big style and then Commrade Gobo Broon thought i'll have some of that to fund "Schoools n Hospitals" and show my green bits too (read second homes allowance, duck house's and plasma telly's)
The fact that Ryanair/Easyjet fly modern fleets and fill the aircraft and (in Easyjet's case) contribute to the European construction of Airbus jobs and pay taxes in the Uk (unlike Ryanair) who increasingly employee contractor's who many, i understand? are paid gross and pay little or no tax as they hop round Europe with Ryanair's musical base swaps. Meanwhile you pay the same duty to fly on a vintage aircraft with the likes of Jet2 or baby or on a near empty domestic LHR with bmi or BA
How can it be a green tax when cargo pays nowt? nor biz jets with one pax on it, it needs a rethink or better still scraping