BELFAST AIRPORT PARKING NEWS - 29/11/2008

"UK TAX INCREASE WILL DEVASTATE TOURISM", SAYS RYANAIR

Leading European low-fares airline Ryanair has criticised the UK government over an increase in air passenger duty (APD) for short-haul flights.

It claims that the climate of tighter financial conditions for both businesses and customers has seen passenger numbers decline and that an increase in the rate of tax would exacerbate the situation.

The company, which flies to a number of UK locations including Belfast Airport, has said that increases that will add £1 to the current £10 level in both 2009 and 2010, will "devastate UK tourism".

Calling for an "urgent rethink" by the government on its policy, Ryanair's Michael Crawley said: "This government must realise that it can’t tax the tourism industry out of a recession.

"BAA traffic figures show that passenger traffic has fallen since this tax was introduced and this increase will have a further damaging effect on passengers."

On November 25th the chancellor Alastair Darling released a pre-budget report, which indicated that the government would change the structure of APD.

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