As many as 12,000 emails from the British public about Air Passenger Duty (APD) are being ignored by MPs, a campaign group has said.
According to the anti-APD group A Fair Tax on Flying, Treasury ministers have seen more than 2,250 emails calling for an end to APD.
It claims that David Cameron himself has seen more than 450 emails against the tax, yet it is still set to increase on April 1.
More than 200,000 people have written to their MP in the last six months, calling for changes to the aviation tax.
“The amount of tax paid on flying means air travel is becoming increasingly out of reach for many families,” said Simon Buck, chief executive of the British Air Transport Association (BATA).
“The loss of routes as a direct result of the exorbitant levels of APD is well-documented, yet the Chancellor plans more rises in the tax this year.”
A review of the impact of APD was recently published by professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which found that scrapping the tax could have significant economic benefits.
“This would result in a new increase in revenues to the Treasury from other taxes as a result of this economic stimulus – in other words, it would actually pay for itself,” the PwC report said.
The report said that scrapping the tax could result in as many as 60,000 new jobs being created and a £500 million boost to UK businesses.
Those in the industry have said that this “comprehensive evidence”, along with the thousands of emails from taxpayers, cannot be ignored by the government and the Chancellor.
“It is inconceivable that the Government is planning to go ahead with these rises against comprehensive new evidence that only total abolition or a reduction in APD will achieve economic benefits,” added Mr Buck.
