'Depriving ordinary people of holidays': Jet2 boss hits out at net zero tax proposals to make flights more expensive
The boss of Leeds-headquartered airline and holiday company Jet2 has hit back at proposals to make flights more expensive as a way of reducing aviation emissions.
Steve Heapy, CEO of Jet2, the UK’s largest tour operator and third largest airline, has criticised new recommendations from the Climate Change Committee (CCC), which advises the Government.
The CCC has said the expansion of Heathrow airport cannot go ahead unless the aviation industry is forced to clean up its climate emissions. It suggested the cost of international flights might have to increase by hundreds of pounds by 2050 through additional taxes, to pay for measures that will help the airline sector reach net zero targets.
The report estimated that ticket prices could increase by around £150 for a return trip to Alicante and £400 for a return trip to New York by 2050, around six to nine pence per mile, which the CCC said was “similar to fuel duty on petrol and diesel today”.
Mr Heapy said: “The Climate Change Committee refer to ‘demand management’ in their report but let’s call it what it really is: depriving the least well off of their hard-earned and well-deserved holidays.
"These punitive tax regimes would make foreign travel the preserve of only those with the deepest pockets.”
The CCC said almost half of people do not fly abroad in any given a year, while a third of all flights abroad are taken by only five per cent of people who take five or more international flights in a year.
Committee officials pointed to citizens panels it had organised, which found people thought that the aviation sector should be responsible for the cost of dealing with its emissions, not adding it to general taxation and charging those who do not fly.
The committee did point to public support for ensuring that ordinary families should not be priced out of an annual holiday abroad. It said this could mean use of a frequent flyer tax, for those who take multiple flights in a year.
It also floated the ideas of a kerosene tax and air passenger duty, while it also suggested limiting airport capacity or restricting ‘some’ domestic flights.
The report said: “Additional demand management may still be required if emissions do not begin to decrease in the short-term.”
CCC chairman Nigel Topping said that emissions from flying had doubled in the UK since 1990, even as overall climate pollution had halved.
He said: “Ultimately, the polluter pays principle must apply. If aviation is to grow, it must take responsibility for the emissions it creates.”