Cost of flying within UK made cheaper just days before COP26

Rishi Sunak has been criticised for making it cheaper to fly short haul just days before the UK hosts a vital climate summit.

The chancellor has announced a new lower rate of air passenger duty for domestic flights as part of his budget.

At the same time, he has also confirmed he is freezing fuel duty for the 12th year in a row due to record-high petrol prices.

Green campaigners have argued the changes send the wrong message at a time when people should be discouraged from environmentally damaging practices.

It’s feared that it will make it harder for ministers to attempt to convince their colleagues in other nations to make policy changes that reduce emissions next week.

Mr Sunak said today in the commons: ‘Right now, people pay more for return flights within and between the four nations of the United Kingdom than they do when flying home from abroad.

‘We used to have a return-leg exemption for domestic flights but were required to remove it in 2001. But today I can announce that flights between airports in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will from April 2023 be subject to a new lower rate of Air Passenger Duty.’

Short haul flights are seen as one of the worse offenders for CO2 because take-off and landing uses the most fuel.

It’s also often unnecessary to make the journey by plane as other less environmentally damaging options such as trains and buses are available.

It takes around four and half hours to get to Scotland’s capital Edinburgh from London on a train, while Cardiff can be reached in under two hours.

It’s already often cheaper to fly between the cities, despite the environmental impact – with prices on budget airlines often less than £30.

Earlier this year France voted to ban flights of less than two and a half hours, if the journey could be done by train instead.

Mr Sunak said most emissions come from international, rather than domestic, aviation as he introduced a new ‘ultra long haul band in air passenger duty.’

This covers flights of over 5,500 miles and has an economy rate of £91.

‘Less than 5% of passengers will pay more, but those who fly furthest will pay the most,’ Mr Sunak said.

The Chancellor had planned to raise fuel duty but has instead decided to keep it frozen at 57.95p a litre for petrol and diesel in the face of rising prices for motorists.

Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said this was ‘hardly consistent with climate change objectives.’

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