For most of the year, England has lousy weather. As a general rule the weather is murky, damp, rainy and gloomy. On the other hand, the Caribbean, especially the Lesser Antilles has crystal clear skies, unpolluted seas, lots of sunshine and gorgeous white sand beaches. It is no secret that the Caribbean is the Britts favourite vacation destination. Please explain to me how legislators could come up with a plan to punish environmentally-conscious destinations with a so-called environmental tax? There are many cities worldwide that contribute to greenhouse emissions. The Caribbean is lowest on the list of world polluters; yet British legislators plan to introduce a so-called environmental tax on all passengers traveling to the Caribbean. There needs to be an immediate barrage of telephone callers to all media houses protesting against this deceitful tax.

AIR TAX EH?

Yeah right! Here is the plan in draft form. Commencing November 1st 2009, passengers flying with economy tickets will be asked to pay an additional £50 to Antigua/Barbuda. That appears to be a disguised tax. The real plan might just be to tax their most faithful travelers-their first class premier destination travelers. Think of this: Antigua/Barbuda is one of their most reliable first-class ticket destinations. From London to Antigua, the distance is 4048 miles or 6515 km. If they had decided to raise the first class passengers alone, some people would have simply switched to economy. So what they have done is to charge the first class passengers £100 more, and economy passengers £50, and as soon as passengers get accustomed, they plan to increase the tax to £150 for their privileged class travelers and £75 for economy passengers next year. Other Caribbean Air Destinations: London to Trinidad is roughly 4431 miles or 7131 km; London to St. Lucia is 4350 miles or 7050km and from London to Barbados is 4203 miles or 6744km.

THE COCKEYED TAX

Let us examine the proposed four-tiered rate structure to find out if in fact the proposed tax is equitable. The rate bands into which countries are allocated depend on the distances from London to the airlines destinations' capital cities. The higher the band, the greater the tax--supposedly:

Band A category encompasses countries whose capital cities are 2000 miles or less from London.

Band B covers capitals whose distances fall between B 2001-4000 miles.

Band C. covers countries where distances to their capitals fall between 4001-6000 miles.

Band D covers countries where distances from London to their capitals are over 6000 miles.

London/Caribbean Popular Air Destinations:

London to Antigua/Barbuda is 4048 miles or 6515 km; London to Trinidad is roughly 4431 miles or 7131 km; London to Barbados is 4210 Miles or 6775 Km, and London to St. Lucia is 4350 miles or 7050 km. Even though supposedly the tax is based on miles flown, how does Hawaii get locked into Band C when the distance from London to Hawaii is 7239 miles or 11650 km? According to their calculations, the Caribbean islands that U.K flights service regularly-Antigua/Barbuda, St. Lucia, Barbados and Trinidad-- all fall into Band C: 4001 to 6000 miles, while Hawaii with over 7000 miles is pegged into the same category as the Caribbean? Hawaii should be automatically in Band D; it is not. Hawaii is locked in the same category as that of the Caribbean's top destinations--Band C. That is not the only exception.

Let us examine the U.S. We will look at the following U.S cities frequented by London passengers: Alaska, California, Miami and Washington. Unlike the Caribbean, most of the travelers from London to the U.S are business travelers. From London to Alaska the distance is 4456 miles or 7,172 km: from London to Miami Florida is 4437 miles or 7140 km; from London to Washington is 4799 miles (7723 km), and London to San Francisco California is 5371 miles or 8645 km. All U.S destinations should be in Band C just like the Caribbean: yet all the United States' cities get Band B classification. I wonder why?

PENNY-WISE POUND-FOOLISH PRECEDENT

AEA, The Association of European Airlines (www.aea.be) is a conglomeration of 34 established European scheduled network carriers. They collectively carry 370 million passengers and approximately 10 million tonnes of cargo annually. They operate 2,600 aircraft serving 615 destinations in 165 countries with 11,575 flights a day, providing almost 450,000 jobs directly, and millions indirectly. They generate a total turnover of €78 billion Euros annually. Britain should peruse the report from the Association of European Airlines to see what Holland reported when they tried such folly with their airlines in July 2008-- last year. In fact, I will reproduce the report in its entirety.

" AIR PASSENGER TAX IS BAD FOR THE ECONOMY -
The Dutch government has announced the scrapping of the air passenger tax, after it emerged that receipts, which were lower than predicted, have been totally overshadowed by losses to the economy. Fiscal revenues of about €300 million were massively offset by a cost to the economy estimated at over €1 billion. The tax, introduced in July 2008, added €11.25 to the price of a short-haul ticket and €45 to a long haul journey. The outcome was predictable: almost a million passengers opted for alternative flights from airports in Belgium and Germany." The Dutch government scrapped the tax citing that that the impact of the tax was "counterproductive."

With daily flights from Paris to St. Martin and Guadeloupe--a stone's throw from Antigua--London's legislators better look back at when their French rival got most of the tour operators' packages to Antigua/Barbuda from Switzerland when the Euro was down. Air France then obliged us with a shuttle flight from Guadeloupe to Antigua for connecting passengers. L.I.A.T did the same, and continues to do so to this day. I hereby appeal to all Tourist offices and Hotels Associations of countries that British carriers service: Antigua and Barbuda Hotel Association; St. Lucia Tourist Association; Barbados Tourist Association, Trinidad Tourist Association, and the Caribbean Hotels and Tourism Associations to mobilize their citizens into a blogging protests, letter writing protests, and phone calls to legislators. Call travel shops and tour operators. There is might in numbers. A word to the wise is sufficient.

Suggested readings: "The Golden Fleece Found by Basil Hill-- http://www.amazon.com/Golden-Fleece-Found-Basil-Hill/dp/1412043190

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Basil_C._Hill

Author: Basil C. Hill

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