Although I have little time for IATA and that little Napoleon dictator they did get it right for once. From their press release
here
The UK Air Passenger Duty hike is the wrong response to the industry trauma. “The policies of some governments in light of the industry’s trauma are disappointing. The UK is a case in point of a government detached from reality. The global economic crisis makes cost reduction a matter of survival. And the upcoming Copenhagen meeting on climate change demands attention on measures to reduce emissions. What is the UK government doing? From 1 November it is increasing its Air Passenger Duty (APD) to collect GBP 2.5 billion annually from air travelers in the name of the environment. They have it all wrong. Taxes won’t reduce emissions. And making travel more expensive will not stimulate the economy,” said Bisignani.
The GBP 2.5 billion APD is completely disproportionate to the GBP572 million that it would cost to offset the entire carbon footprint of UK aviation. “Charging travelers over four times for their emissions makes absolutely no sense. Instead of raising taxes, the UK government should get behind the aviation industry’s ambitious targets to fight climate change, namely (1) improving fuel efficiency by an average of 1.5% annually to 2020, (2) stabilizing emissions from 2020 with carbon neutral growth and (3) cutting net emissions in half by 2050 compared to 2005 levels,” said Bisignani.
Edited - typos