CARIBBEAN-TOURISM-Airlines urge scrapping of controversial air passenger duty

LONDON, CMC – A new report has said that scrapping the controversial Air Passenger Duty (APD) could generate 60,000 jobs by 2020. The report commissioned by four airlines, British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic, is also expected to boost gross domestic product (GDP) by almost one per cent. The APD, instituted in 1994, is a British environmental tax aimed at offsetting aviation’s carbon footprint. In its initial stage, it was set at £5 (US$7.85) per person. Regional governments have been lobbying London to remove the tax, which they said negatively affects the growth of the tourism industry since the Caribbean has been placed in a band that makes travel to the region much more expensive than travelling from London to the United States.