The United Kingdom’s aviation taxes are among the highest in the world, deterring millions of potential tourists and acting as a brake on economic growth, the chief executive of British Airways has warned. Sean Doyle’s intervention comes as official figures show the travel sector contributed £147 billion to the national economy in 2024, equivalent to 5% of total GDP, and supports 2.4 million jobs. Yet the government’s ambition to welcome 50 million international visitors a year by 2030 – up from roughly 40 million today – risks being undermined by a steep increase in Air Passenger Duty (APD) that took effect in April, pushing the cost of flying from the UK even higher.
Tax Burden on Travellers
Air Passenger Duty rose by 15% in April, bringing the charge to £8 per passenger on domestic flights, £15 for European departures, and as much as £253 for premium economy seats on long-haul routes. Further increases are already scheduled: from April 2026, economy class short-haul flights will see an additional £2 levy, long-haul fares will rise by 13%, and private jet charter flights will face a near-50% hike. The UK now levies the highest aviation taxes in Europe, according to industry data, with average charges per passenger far exceeding those in Italy and Norway. Many major economies do not tax air travel at all.
Doyle, speaking at the International Air Transport Association annual meeting in Rio de Janeiro, said the tax regime was putting the UK at a competitive disadvantage compared with France, Spain, Japan and Germany. “What’s the biggest challenge in the country at the minute? It’s growth. And what should policy be doing? It should be unblocking growth,” he said. “If you want to promote tourism and aviation … the last thing you do to encourage that expansion is put the cost of it up.”
The impact is particularly acute for families. Doyle noted that for a family of five travelling to Britain and then onward, APD represents “a huge penalty compared to what you pay in Europe.” The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has also highlighted that the UK’s decision to tax premium economy seats at the same rate as business class is a unique competitive disadvantage – no other country differentiates passenger tax by cabin class.
The economic stakes are considerable. Tourism generates more than £150 billion annually for local communities, contributes £31 billion a year in export earnings, and sustains 2.4 million jobs across the UK. The total value of tourism activity is projected to reach £161 billion by 2030. However, Doyle warned that unless the affordability issue is addressed, the official target of 50 million visitors will not be met. “If you look at France and Spain, they’ve absolutely shot past us,” he said. “A big part of it is cost, if you look at the surveys. If we want to hit 50 million and want the economic benefit of that, we’re going to have to change the affordability proposition to tourists.”
Doyle Calls for Affordability Overhaul
Beyond aviation taxes, Doyle pointed to a fragmented domestic travel landscape that discourages visitors from venturing beyond London and Edinburgh. The lack of comprehensive, easy-to-use rail passes and the fragmentation of the rail network mean that tourism remains concentrated in a handful of hubs, denying the rest of the economy the benefits of visitor spending. “The other thing is the lack of options to travel around the UK, because of things like rail networks which are fragmented, the lack of [rail] passes – the lack of a kind of curation of tourists is a big issue,” Doyle said.
International visitors can purchase BritRail passes – which offer unlimited travel on National Rail services across England, Scotland and Wales – but these must be bought before arriving in the UK and are not valid on London Underground trains, buses, Eurostar or other metro services. A government “Tourism Action Plan” launched in 2016 sought to address the problem by creating a “new GREAT tourism rail offer” with five easy-to-book itineraries, but industry observers say progress has been limited. Research has also suggested that reinstating and expanding VAT reclaim for tourists could significantly boost visitor numbers and spending, while the current visitor visa system has been described by travel groups as a “blunt instrument” that is inefficient at targeting high-risk applicants.
Doyle’s call for a rethink of aviation taxes is rooted in the government’s own post-pandemic recovery plan, adopted in 2021, which aimed to build a more resilient tourism sector. The Tourism Recovery Plan replaced an earlier 2019 Tourism Sector Deal and set out ambitions to support all regions, enhance accessibility and foster innovation. Yet Doyle argued that the current policy direction – raising APD rather than lowering it – runs directly counter to those goals. “Unless we address the affordability issue we’re not going to get there,” he reiterated.
Heathrow Expansion Risks
The cost of travel infrastructure itself is also under scrutiny. Doyle warned that the government’s backing for a third runway at Heathrow could backfire if the airport’s preferred £33 billion scheme leads to sharply higher landing charges, forcing airlines to cut back on investment. Total investment in the project, including new terminal infrastructure and upgrades to existing facilities, could reach £49 billion over a decade.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has already made draft decisions allowing Heathrow to recoup a significant portion of its expansion expenditure through airport fees, a move that British Airways has opposed. Analysts estimate that the extra charges could add £60 to £65 to the average ticket price, costing a family of four an additional £250. Airlines, including BA, have urged the government to pursue a cheaper alternative for the third runway. “There’s an ambition on infrastructure expansion in Heathrow, but if the cost is too high, the other side of that growth, which is airlines coming in with planes and investing their capital into the sector, that may not come,” Doyle said.
The debate over Heathrow expansion reflects a broader tension within the UK’s aviation policy: the government wants to boost connectivity and tourism, but the cumulative effect of high APD, rising airport charges, and a difficult domestic travel network risks pricing the country out of the global visitor market. As Doyle put it, “If you want to promote tourism and aviation … the last thing you do to encourage that expansion is put the cost of it up.”
