Flight tax hike plan could harm island, says airlines

THE UK Government's plan to increase air passenger duty could seriously damage Guernsey's economy, airlines that serve the island have warned.

Flybe, Aurigny and Blue Islands have joined calls for the scrapping of the proposed 10% duty increase scheduled to come into effect in November.

From that date, passengers on all short-haul flights leaving the UK will see duty rise from £10 to £11.

A further increase is also scheduled for November 2010.

Flybe called on the UK Chancellor in March to postpone the increases and did so again yesterday.

'Unfortunately he ignored us, despite the fact that such a move would have been a tangible stimulus to the hard-pressed tourism industry in the British Isles,' said Niall Duffy, head of PR at the airline.

'No one expects the economy to be out of the woods by November, so Flybe's position remains the same - the tax rise should be shelved.'

In terms of Guernsey, he added: 'Anything that makes travelling to Guernsey more expensive could potentially damage the island's economy and nobody wants that at a time when ticket sales to the Channel Islands can benefit from sterling's weakness against the euro.'