TUI chief demands urgent reform of travel regulations

TUI Travel chief Peter Long has called for Air Passenger Duty to be replaced by a per plane tax "as a matter or urgency".

He also told MPs at a House of Commons parliamentary reception that consultation on the reform of passenger protection to be released soon by the Department for Transport should include widening the ATOL rules to cover dynamic packaging by internet and high street retailers and click throughs from low cost carrier websites.

"When packages are self-assembled, they should fall under the same protection framework as package holidays," the TUI Travel CEO told MPs and other senior executives from the travel industry.

The forthcoming general election should not derail what he described as an important piece of legislation.

Arguing that the economic benefits of outbound travel companies had been undervalued by government, Long said: "What we find staggering is that successive governments have failed to recognise the commercial value of outbound tourism.

"This is evidenced by the fact that there is no single department responsible for it in Government and, consequently as an industry we fall between the cracks.

"As a group, we believe it is important that Government recognises this value and we are committed to being a voice that is listened to.”

On APD, he said the current per passenger tax "rewards the inefficient and penalises the efficient” because it is assessed on a per passenger basis, rather than on a per plane basis.

“We also believe that we have the right to expect that regulators will reward and incentivise behaviour that is environmentally responsible and penalise behaviour that is environmentally irresponsible
“That is why we are so unhappy about Air Passenger Duty. Air Passenger Duty has been badged as an environmental tax, but it is nothing of the kind."
For example, cargo aircraft, which Long described as "old clunkers" such as DC-1Os and Boeing 747s pay no duty, creating a "clear inequality".

Long called for a per plane tax to replace APD, a suspension of the planned second round of tax hikes next November, removal of premium economy to a lower band and a removal of the anomalies in geographical bands which makes the tax higher for those flying to the Caribbean than travellers on flights to the US west coast and Hawaii.

Long revealed that he was to lobby Brussels after the European Commission decided to review the European package travel directive.

His message to the European commissioner for consumers will be: "This is new legislation that is desperately needed by our industry and we share your aim of ensuring that all industry customers can benefit from the same level of protection as those currently enjoyed by our customers".

Long went on to say: "It is more crucial than ever that we have a regulatory environment that achieves a proper balance between the rights of customers and the needs of business, ensures fair competition between players competing in the same market and properly incentivises businesses to be carbon efficient."

He pointed out that TUI has the third largest airline in the UK with 65 aircraft yet as a tour operator faces tougher regulations than scheduled carriers.