Tax Hike ‘Hits Passenger Numbers’

HIGHER air taxes have hit the number of passengers using flights between Prestwick and London Stansted.

Airport bosses in Ayrshire say passenger numbers have dropped since the tax on domestic and short-haul flights was doubled.

Britain’s prime minister-in-waiting, Gordon Brown, hiked up air passenger duty to GBP10 earlier this year.

Passenger figures for April are 5000 down compared with the same month last year.

Fewer passengers used the PrestwickStansted service despite cheap flights offered by budget airline Ryanair.

Prestwick’s chief executive Mark Rodwell admitted: “A number of carriers have observed the government airport passenger duty increase is having an adverse effect on loads, particularly on domestic routes.

“Time will tell us what the impact will be.”

Several no-frills airlines have blamed the tax rise for a dip in passenger numbers. Easyjet said it had even affected its share price.

Prestwick handled more than 203,000 passengers last month, a drop of 3per cent for the same period 12 months ago.

(c) 2007 Evening Times; Glasgow (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.