AIR PASSENGER DUTY ON FLIGHTS TO THE CARIBBEAN

Early day motion 1761, tabled 29 June 2009 by Baroness Teather (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 47 members.

That this House notes the Government's plans to introduce a new banding system for air passenger duty; believes that any duty should be based on the level of carbon emissions produced by flights rather than arbitrary zones based on location of a country's capital city; notes that actual distance travelled is a good approximation for carbon emissions; further notes that the new banding system will result in flights to the Caribbean incurring a higher tax than flights to the West Coast of the United States, despite being closer in distance to the UK; is concerned that this will disadvantage the many people who have friends and family in the Caribbean, while also failing to effectively curb carbon emissions; further notes that replacing the air passenger duty with a per plane tax would be fairer for passengers flying on busy routes; and calls on the Government to abolish the air passenger duty and replace it with a per plane aviation duty based on the actual distance travelled.

Signatures by party: Labour 19, Liberal Democrat 17, Conservative 6, Independent 3, Respect 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.