Tories and Lib Dems try to win holidaymakers" votes with air duty reform

The Tories and the Liberal Democrats have both announced changes to Air Passenger Duty that would bring down the cost of overseas holidays and make it cheaper for business travellers to fly.

Under the Labour government, Air Passenger Duty (APD) has risen more than 300 per cent in four years; both the Tories and the Liberal Democrats say they will cut the tax if the electorate votes in their favour on May 6.

According to the Daily Telegraph which has launched a campaign to abolish APD, a family of four taking a long-haul holiday will have to shell out £340 on air duty from November under proposed increases by Labour; a holiday to the Caribbean will cost a family £300.

The Tory manifesto says it will reform APD to encourage airlines to fly with newer, fuller aircraft. This suggests the Conservative Party is looking at introducing something similar to the Liberal Democrat's idea of replacing the passenger duty with a tax on aircraft.

The Liberal Democrats would tax freight aircraft for the time. They are also planning a higher tax for domestic flights to encourage passengers to travel by rail instead.

Neither party will go ahead with plans for a third runway at Heathrow and second runways at Gatwick and Stansted, which are being supported by Labour; instead the Tories are planning a high-speed rail link from Heathrow to Birmingham and onwards to cities in the north of England.

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