Bosses at Manston say their passengers should pay less flight tax

Bosses at Kent International Airport have called on the government to implement a 'congestion charge' on busy London airports.

They say airlines should be charged a premium for flying in or out of Heathrow or Gatwick, to encourage more people to use smaller, regional airports.

They also say passengers jetting off from Manston should be entitled to a reduction in air passenger duty (APD), which they claim has a "devastating impact" on the local economy.

Charles Buchanan, chief executive, said: "We believe the government should follow other European counties and scrap APD, as the tax is making the UK less attractive to international visitors and also holding back the growth of regional airports.

"if passengers want to fly out of busy airports, they should pay a premium for doing so, just as motorists pay a premium to drive in central london." – charles buchanan

"The government should provide economic incentives to encourage airlines to move out of the congested London airports and make better use of those where capacity is available.

"If passengers and airlines want to fly out of airports which are congested then they should pay a premium for doing so, just as motorists pay a premium to drive in central London."

British holidaymakers already pay more flight tax than anywhere else in Europe.

According to the travel organisation ABTA, a family of four flying from the UK to Australia pay £340 in flight tax, compared to just £11 for an Irish family.

It says the government has increased air passenger duty by 2,600 per cent since 1994.

APD is expected to raise billions of pounds for the government over the next five years.

Mr Buchanan said: "The combination of APD, record fuel prices and continuing weak economic conditions make it difficult to sustain our existing air services and very challenging to attract new airlines and services to our airport.

"That's not only bad news for our airport and passengers, it's bad news for jobs, inward investment, tourism and wealth creation in Kent."