New 'green' tax could add £450 to family holiday

PA

A new green tax to be introduced in 2012 is threatening to outprice families from their annual holidays.

According to the Express, in less than 10 years a family of four could face a £452 tax bill on top of the ticket price to fly to Florida.

From this weekend, aviation will come under the EU's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which is expected to cost the industry £1.1 billion in its first year.

This could rise to £4 billion a year in less than a decade - and this cost will be passed onto the passenger.

The new ETS charge is on top of the Government's Air Passenger Duty - already the highest aviation tax in the world - which is also set to rise by an inflation-busting 8% in April 2012.

Travel agents body Abta estimates ETS will add an average of £2 per customer to the cost of a short-haul flight next year and £8 to a long-haul one.

A spokesman told the paper: "The average family of four flying to Florida will pay £292 in flight taxes in 2012, compared with £260 in 2011. By 2020, this family could be paying as much as £452."

Pressure is being put on George Osborne to cut the high APD to offset the new ETS.

Abta's Chief executive Mark Tanzer told the Express: "With the Government's recent decision to increase Air Passenger Duty by double the rate of inflation, customers in 2012 will be hit with a ­double whammy – more APD and now ETS costs on top of this.

"It is important that the industry plays its role in offsetting the impact of aviation on the environment, but let's be clear, both APD and taxes from ETS go straight to the Treasury. We have no idea how much revenue will actually be used to help climate change. What we do know is that consumers will be hit with another big tax rise in 2012."

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