Budget -APD increased on Business Prem Econ & first

[Heathrow Harry]

Short-haul APD rates for 2019-20 will remain frozen as they have been since 2012.

The long-haul rate for economy passengers will be frozen at the 2018-19 rates while the rates for premium economy, business and first class will increase by £16 and for those travelling by private jet by £47.

[alserire]

And all that with Brexit coming up.

It's like they don't have a clue really.......

[edi_local]

Does this not only apply to flights leaving English and Welsh airports? The APD powers have been devolved to Scotland and the plan here is to either half or scrap it and NI has no or lower APD on long haul routes anyway, doesn't it? Or was the only for BFS-EWR when it was on the go?

[Heathrow Harry]

Not sure - but imagine the howls if APD is frozen in Scotland but Income tax goes up.............

Post -Code discrimination with a vengeance

[ExXB]

First and Business I agree with, but why 'premium economy'?

Adding another £16 to a Y+ price is going to have a much larger dissuasive effect than adding it to a F price. £156 is a hefty whack for a long haul ticket.

All the media says 'APD frozen', but they lie.

[PAXboy]

Looking across the newspaper frontpages, confirms the view that the govt ensured that all the bad news was leaked steadily over the last few weeks a bit at a time to make sure there was no big explosion. THEN all the 'good' news was released in the budget to make a happy explosion. :rolleyes:

[ZFT]

First and Business I agree with, but why 'premium economy'?

Adding another £16 to a Y+ price is going to have a much larger dissuasive effect than adding it to a F price. £156 is a hefty whack for a long haul ticket.

All the media says 'APD frozen', but they lie.

Why agree even in First and Business. This just gives another competitive advantage to those airlines below the 'longhaul' threshold thus making LHR an even less attractive place to one stop transit?

[HamishMcBush]

It makes me ashamed to be British... we never had APD at all until fairly recently, then "we" introduced it, and soon became one of, if not the, highest rate in the entire world. Our governments have been far too greedy imposing new taxes on us at alarming rates.
I can remember when our standard VAT rate was 8% and it's now 20% :-(

[alserire]

And yet Labour are supposed to be the tax and spend party

Go figure.

[Heathrow Harry]

And people live longer, they get free bus passes, we send 50% of the kids to UNi rather than up chimneys and there is a large body of opinion on here that we should spend more money on defence

The Cash has to come from somewhere......................

[ExXB]

Why agree even in First and Business.

As F/J demand is a lot less price related. These Pax less likely to divert via a European airport to save a few pounds. Airlines might have to reduce their price by an equivalent amount, but probably won't affect demand, too much.

For Y+, a different story.

[edi_local]

It makes me ashamed to be British... we never had APD at all until fairly recently, then "we" introduced it, and soon became one of, if not the, highest rate in the entire world. Our governments have been far too greedy imposing new taxes on us at alarming rates.
I can remember when our standard VAT rate was 8% and it's now 20% :-(

I can't see how they can claim to be making Britain "global" when the chancellor has made it more expensive to go long haul. Can anyone work that one out?

And yes, Heathrow Harry, I, Personally don't care about a slight increase in my income tax as the benefits I personally get from other polices outweigh the tiny amount more I'll pay.

[PAXboy]

This budget - like most - was aimed at their supporters and that means their newspapers. The time of trying to plan 10 years ahead and lay solid foundations are long gone. Besides, the Chancellor wanted to keep his job so did the usual shuffling of furniture.

[snooky]

I can't see how they can claim to be making Britain "global" when the chancellor has made it more expensive to go long haul. Can anyone work that one out?

And yes, Heathrow Harry, I, Personally don't care about a slight increase in my income tax as the benefits I personally get from other polices outweigh the tiny amount more I'll pay.

You may be more concerned next month, when you may be paying several thousand pounds per year more income tax.

[PAXboy]

Not to mention the flat lining of income continuing for another five years. This thread will be off to Jet Blast before long ...

[Trinity 09L]

Bit of an own goal, all those UK civil servants travelling (on business) in these cabins, so it’s going to cost who?

[edi_local]

You may be more concerned next month, when you may be paying several thousand pounds per year more income tax.

I won't be concerned. Having lived in various parts of the UK, I would still prefer to stay in Scotland, even with the increased cost, for me, it is worth it. Plus I won't be paying "thousands" more anyway When you consider the benefits we get and the general lower cost of living it's really not a big deal in comparison. :ok:

But anyway, APD. This budget still applies to Scotland as although it has been devolved, it is currently on hold due to issues surrounding EU state aid rules and the removal of APD for Highlands and Islands flights. Personally, that sounds like a bit of a cop out as for years we have had no APD on those routes and I don't recall the UK government facing trouble with this matter when it was in control nor when they devolved the power to NI for that specific EWR route. But, apparently, it is a big enough issue to cause a stop to the plan for now.

[crewmeal]

This government will be the ruination of the UK aviation industry the way things are going. Whilst MPs travel first or business at the taxpayers expense, they won't give a :mad: about APD.