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TAX rises on flying could spell the end of foreign holidays for many families.
Even small increases will force thousands to scrap their break in the sun this year, a study reveals.
The rises, slipped out by Chancellor Alistair Darling last month, will add £360 to the cost of some return flights for a family of four and double the Government’s tax revenues.
The survey of 1,400 people found that one in three has already ruled out flying in the coming year on the grounds of cost. More than half would make fewer trips or stop flying if the cost of a flight rose by 25 per cent.
Unlike previous studies, the survey found middle income families were as likely to cut back on flights as poorer households. Those with children are even more likely to quit flying.
Former Labour energy minister Brian Wilson, now chairman of the lobbying group Flying Matters which commissioned the survey, said: “This evidence shows that those on high incomes are barely affected by price while ordinary working families are as likely to be priced out of flying as those on low incomes.
“Without long-term plans in place to meet demand for flying and keep it affordable for the millions of people who fly or aspire to fly, politicians could risk a backlash from voters.”
Ministers insist the rise in air taxes is needed to help tackle climate change but critics claim it takes no account of carbon emissions.
Air Passenger Duty, introduced in 1994 at a flat rate of £5 each way for short-haul flights and £10 each way for long-haul, was doubled last year.
Treasury figures show it soared from £971million in 2006 to more than £2billion this year. The latest rises are expected to increase revenues to £3.6billion a year by 2012.
By the end of 2010, tax on short-haul flights will have risen to £12 each way. Flights to the United States and the Middle East will incur taxes of £60 each way and flights to the Caribbean, South Africa and the Far East will rise to £75 each way. People flying to Australia, New Zealand or Indonesia will face a tax bill of £85 each way.
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Money is very tight in most households so even the slightest increase in flight taxes would be disastrous for the travel industry.
“We already cover the environmental cost of flights through the current green taxes, so increasing them will simply be a revenue-raising measure for the Government.” Tour operators and airlines have been cutting prices in recent days in a bid to drum up custom but industry sources say aviation is facing a string of cost pressures in the coming year, including taxation, continuing volatility in the oil price and plans to force the industry to join a costly European Union environmental scheme.
News of the travel tax came as shoppers flocked to the sales on Britain’s beleaguered high streets in defiance of the credit crunch.
Official figures showed Boxing Day was the busiest recorded with 2.3 per cent more shoppers venturing out than the same time last year but experts warned of the bleak reality behind the sales frenzy. Richard Dodd of the British Retail Consortium said: “Retailers have been forced into huge discounts by the economic climate.
“It will not be clear how bad things have been until full December sales figures are released next month. They won’t be pretty.”
At Woolworths in Chorlton, Manchester, which closed yesterday, shoppers picked up bargains with goods going for 90 per cent off the normal price. The shop was busy with bargain-hunters but it was a sad day for the 20 staff, including one who had been with the company for nearly 30 years.
A spokeswoman for Meadowhall in Sheffield, one of the largest shopping centres in the country, described yesterday as “manic”.
She said: “It’s just been huge. We’ve had people queuing from 3.30 this morning for the Next sale which opened at 5am along with M&S.
“The rest of the retailers opened their doors at 8am and will close again at eight tonight and it’s been non-stop.
“Every bit of available land around the centre has been used for car parking, there’s not a space left. The sheer volume of people coming is huge. “
James Waugh, retail manager of the Bluewater shopping centre near London, said: “People are flowing in and we are on course to have a very good day.”
A spokesman for Birmingham’s Bullring centre, which has more than 160 stores, said about 2,800 shoppers were queuing when the doors opened yesterday morning.
Some bargain hunters had been waiting from as early as 1am for the mall’s branch of Next to open.
Tim Walley, the centre’s general manager, said: “This sales period has been a great success for Bullring, with over 190,000 shoppers visiting the centre on Boxing Day alone, up five per cent on last year.”
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