Airlines Oppose UK ETA Price Hike
Date
1/19/2025 3:14:32 PM
(MENAFN- Mid-East Info) The International Air transport Association (IATA) opposes the UK Home Office proposal to increase the costs of UK Electronic travel Authorizations (ETAs) by 60% to GBP 16. Willie Walsh, IATA's Director General, commented as follows:
“Proposing to increase ETA costs just a week after the system was introduced is bewildering. If implemented it would be a self-inflicted blow to the UK's
tourism competitiveness. In November the
government laid out plans to increase
tourist arrivals by 30% to reach 50 million annually by 2030 in pursuit of tourism's economic benefits. Gouging these travelers with a 60% increase in the ETA is a very bad start. The added cost would come on top of the Air Passenger Duty (ADP)-the biggest travel tax in the world-which itself will increase again in April. And let's not forget that travelers have choice and the EU's ETIAS to visit Europe will be far better value-costing about a third as much as this proposed pricing and lasting a year longer.
It's time for the UK government to see the big picture. It has everything to gain by making the UK a more cost-competitive travel destination-including the substantial tax revenues that travelers generate. It makes no sense to discourage visitors with high costs even before they set foot in the country.”
UK aviation and tourism supports 1.6 million jobs currently, providing USD 160.7 billion to the UK's GDP. Please see the IATA Value of Air Transport to the United Kingdom study for further details.
MENAFN19012025005446012082ID1109106563
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.