Cost of family holidays set to soar

The cost of family holidays could rise by more than £160 if the government accepts new proposals to make airline passengers may for the climate change caused by flights.

The Committee on Climate Change, a government advisory body, is recommending that the cost of tickets should rise steadily over time to put people off flying and consequently cut airline CO2 emissions back to 2005 levels.

Family holidays abroad would become prohibitively expensive for low to middle income couples if the influential Committee's proposals are accepted. It wants to make airlines share the burden of meeting Britain's commitment to an 80 per cent cut in emissions by 2050.

Airlines are due to join the European Union emissions trading scheme in 2012, after which they will have to pay for part ? though not all - of their carbon emissions. This will add an average of £10 to the cost of a return ticket, or £40 to the cost of typical family holidays.

Under the EU trading scheme, airlines will be given free carbon permits covering 85 per cent of their emissions and they will have to buy the remainder, but the Committee on Climate Change says airlines should have to pay for all their emissions.

Its proposal would mean prices will rise by £18 for a short haul round-trip, adding £72 to the cost of the average family holiday, or £40 for a round trip to Los Angeles, making a long-haul family holiday a whopping £160 more expensive.

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