Results out today suggest that air passengers, travelling long haul from regional airports in the UK could desert British airlines and the major UK airports if the Government fails to take action over Air Passenger Duty (APD).

An Ipsos MORI on-line poll, commissioned by the British Airline Pilots' Association (BALPA), found that (among those who expressed a preference) 90% of adults aged 16 to 64 would prefer to fly to Amsterdam to connect with their long haul flight, avoiding APD, rather than Heathrow where a tax of up to £85 per passenger applies.

Rather than reduce APD, the Government intends to more than double this tax at British airports over the next 18 months.

'The results of our poll are extremely worrying,' said Jim McAuslan, General Secretary of BALPA.

'At a time when the worldwide aviation industry is suffering the UK Chancellor is going to suffocate his very own industry. This could only be dreamt up in the UK; the Dutch have recently scrapped their tax on passenger flights to try to attract more business from neighbouring countries and good old Britain is happy to oblige. This is economic madness'

At the same time as Amsterdam was scrapping its duties, the British Government was increasing its tax on air passengers,he said.

A family of four travelling economy class to Disneyland in Florida for half term week 2011 will pay £240 in taxes; to the Caribbean for a Christmas in 2010 it will be £300 and for the family to visit relatives in Australia that Christmas it will be £340 before they even board the aircraft.

'This is a triple whammy,' Jim McAuslan said.

'The increases in APD will hurt hard working families who have toiled for a holiday and it will hurt them irrespective of their income. This flat rate regressive tax is a poll tax of the skies.

It will hit our airlines who have to pay their way and unlike other forms of transport don't draw on any public funds.

'And it will hurt British jobs and the staff who are already facing a very difficult time. This is a blow for the UK's economy when it needs a boost.'

BALPA is calling on all parts of the industry to work together to draw the public's attention to this stealth tax and to persuade the Government to scrap the planned increases due to come in on November 1and allow UK aviation to compete on a level playing field.



Ipsos MORI were commissioned to ask the question below in an Omnibus poll. The question was asked online to a sample of 1,000 adults aged 16 to 64. The survey was conducted between the 15th and 19th of May. Results have been weighted to the known population

The question was:

Imagine a scenario where you are traveling to Australia from a regional airport in the UK; such as Birmingham, Manchester or Edinburgh. This journey would involve a transfer onto a long haul aircraft at a large international airport.

When booking your tickets, you are told that you would pay £85 less in Air Passenger Tax per person by transferring in Amsterdam than you would if you transferred at London Heathrow.

Given the choice, if you actually decided to make this journey, which route would you prefer to take?

Please assume that factors such as airline carrier, departure time, journey time, in-flight meals/entertainment etc are the same regardless of where you transfer.

The results:

	Prefer Amsterdam	Prefer Heathrow
Total (1,000 sample)	76%	9%
Total of those with a preference (856)	90%	10%
Region: Of those expressing a preference (where sample sizes are sufficiently large)
North West (102)	93%	7%
Yorkshire and Humberside (82)	96%	4%
West Midlands (96)	93%	7%
South West (79)	87%	13%
South East (155)	85.5%	14.5%
London (124)	85%	15%
Scotland (62)	98%	2%