As I noted in an earlier entry, the UK Government has, with very short notice, doubled the Air Passenger Duty (APD) also known as a "tax" for passengers who fly to or from the UK. Story here and here.
Although this won't be a big deal for corporate types who fly there on business or rich folk or gov't types, here is how it breaks down for the rest of us...
* Economy class flights in Europe, internal UK flights - £10
* Business and first class flights in Europe - £20
* Economy class long-haul flights - £40
* Business and first class long-haul flights - £80
Of particular interest to the back/flash packer crowd are the amounts for economy class tickets. Since back/flash packers normally fly the cheapest fare they can find, these taxes hit them at a greater percentage than it would for a rich corporate government bigshot.
Economy long haul flights to and from the UK will be taxed at £40 (US$78) each way. That means that out of any ticket you buy that ends up in the UK, US$156 of that will be tax. That makes the US$299 r/t deal to London sound a lot less palatable, dun it?
Now, US$156 can buy you a nifty ticket on Ryanair or Easyjet to other parts of Europe. Neat. But wait, you'll have to pay £20 round trip for that trip. Or US$78 plus the price of your ticket. Dun sound like a bargain anymore does it?
The worst part of this tax is that it's supposed to go "to the environment". Nothing more. No further details. Sounds like a slush fund for Labour and a virtual mugging of travelers to me!
But here's a bright spot. This is greater incentive to visit the City of Light instead. Despite the language barrier, the food's better and the cigars are cheaper. And for US$129.50 (less than the tax) you can take Eurostar into London if you must go.
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