Passenger tax rise is farce – time for green taxes for airlines

Alliance Environment Spokesperson Stewart Dickson has condemned the farcical scenes in airports today, where people who have already booked flights are being asked to pay for passenger tax increases before they can check in. He blamed this problem on the government and said that they should be making airlines pay green charges instead of increasing passenger tax.

The Alliance Party East Antrim Representative stated: “The farcical scenes that we are seeing in airports across the country are the fault of the government.

“People are being asked to stump up cash at airports before they are allowed to check in, to cover the government’s recent passenger tax hike.

“This tax is a blunt instrument that does very little to protect the environment and simply puts more money in Gordon Brown’s Treasury coffers.

“They should not have increased passenger tax, they should have levied a green emissions charge on the airlines.

“Airlines need to be more responsible along with passengers. It shouldn’t be passengers alone that have to face extra charges. The airline industry has so far escaped paying for the environmental damage it causes, yet passengers are being hit hard by government policy.

“The current arrangements do not give airlines any incentive to be environmentally friendly. Its time a system was put in place which does.”

ENDS