Not everybody flies and yet everybody pays - Talk of Air Passenger Duty being suspended is a concern

Flying is not something that everyone does and yet, since the Second World War, aviation has benefited from not having to pay duty or VAT.

The news of airlines and airports still hit the headlines as they lined up to ask for bailouts and tax reductions from government and were handed over public money without any environmental benchmarks to be met.

More recently we have seen a group of MPs asking for a suspension of Air Passenger Duty to encourage more people to fly, burning fossil fuel in the process. HMRC income from Air Passenger Duty is £3.5bn.

To allow ADP to be suspended, even temporarily, would fly in the face of any green policies; APD would actually need to be 3.4 times its current level to reach tax parity with road users.