UK airlines say that scrapping hated departure tax would create 60,000 jobs
Photo Credit: Tourists at Trafalgar Square in London. Flickr / Nanagyei
Skift Take
While there's no doubt the end of taxes would produce a small bump in inbound traffic, PricewaterhouseCoopers is out of its gourd if it thinks scrapping the tax would boost tourism by 40%. The biggest benefit to cutting the tax will be outbound tourism.
Scrapping the controversial tax, which applies to all passengers flying from a UK airport, would deliver a 0.45pc boost to GDP within 12 months and could generate 60,000 jobs by 2020, according to a report commissioned by British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic.
APD adds £13 to the cost of a short-haul flight, up from £5 in 2007, and as much as £92 in the case of long-haul. Airlines argue it acts as a major barrier to both tourism and potential investment in Britain.
The UK is currently ranked 134th out of 138 c
