Air Fares Get More Expensive as Government Hikes Tax
Virtually anyone will find that the price of flying has risen this week thanks to an increase on the tax of air travel by the government.
The amount the tax has been raised depends on the distance of your flight, so people flying to most destinations in Europe (Up to 2,000 miles on a single flight) will find that taxes only increased from £10 to £11. However, those travelling more than 6,000 miles to countries like Australia and Argentina will be paying £15 more in tax per person.
People flying in premium classes will pay even more – double the costs above.
So for a family of five flying to Australia, that’s a £75 rise in tax for the flight – quite a significant amount of cash. Meanwhile the same family flying across Europe will only pay £5 extra.
All flights from the 1st of November onward come under the new tax, even if they have been booked in advance.
As you can imagine, this has lead to outcry from families and airlines alike. Virgin Atlantic CEO Steve Ridgway said: “These increases will tax many hard working British holidaymakers out of flying altogether. The Government seems to claim this is an environmental tax despite a total lack of evidence to support this claim.”
As a tax there’s no special way around paying for this – short of flying for one of the few provider that will pay the tax for you on a promotion offer. However, you can still use the power of online comparison sites and combined holiday packages to keep the cost of your flights down as low as possible.