Jeremy Clark


A Taxing Affair Jeremy Clark checks in to a designer disaster. Email your comments to: clarkjeremy@hotmail.co.uk


Now here’s something rather


interesting. In 1964, you could


fly from Heathrow to Zurich for £56. I know this because I saw it in a recent documentary about passenger flight. In 1974 you could fly to Zurich for


£56. I know this too, because I did it and my parents had to sell the family silver to pay the fare. In 1984 and 1994 you could fly to Zurich for £56 and today, you can still take a scheduled carrier from the lovely Terminal 5 to Zurich or Rome for around 50 quid. The big difference today though is that about £48.50 of that is tax. In 1964, fifty-six pounds would


buy you most of France or a five bedroom house in the leafy parts of London, in 1975 a Cadillac. Today, it will buy you a copy of “GQ” and a packet of fags. I am not sure what all this tells us


other than the cost of flying makes it available to the masses and yet almost everyone in the business, from first to third party suppliers, struggle to make money. In 1964, you would have been welcomed aboard by a smart, Chanel-uniformed steward/ess and shown personally to your seat. After take off and a glass of champagne, lunch was served on Wedgwood with a decent Burgundy. You might have been presented with a smart BOAC bag for your copy of Harper’s Bazaar and duMaurier cigarettes. As you disembarked, they would have bid you farewell and escorted


opportunity to penalise us all with punitive taxes. They are almost as stupid as the Environmentalists (see last issue!) who actually believe in their parallel world that taxing us to death will Save the World. Here’s what actually happens: Foreign carriers from countries


with more common sense fly you from London to their hub for long haul connections to avoid the long haul tax. Other long haul carriers cut their services as demand falls. UK airlines struggle even harder to survive, some will go, many will lay off people, burdening the taxpayer yet more. Foreign carriers pick up more business and our revenue supports their economy. Businesses that rely on travel for growth become stifled and either stagnate or relocate to countries who have politicians with brains. It really doesn’t matter from which


angle you look at this, tax on air travel is nothing short of lunacy unless it’s uniform. HM Treasury likes to boast how


much has been collected from this industry as if that is something good. One thing is for sure, none of it will go towards building better airports or more runways. The tree- huggers will see to that. Perhaps they should put it in a


you down the steps, carrying your Chihuahua for you if necessary. Today for half that 1964 price, you’re herded to the furthest corner of the airfield on a cattle truck to a tired 737 and shoehorned into seats designed for Barbie and Ken. That’s after the queue at a check-in for half a day, the £98 charge for your


boarding pass and another £98 for the 6g of overweight baggage. Government and Business agree


that embracing the Global Economy is vital to survival. So whilst Business – in this case the airlines and its suppliers, have succeeded in making the Globe available to the majority, the Government chooses this


fund which, when the over-taxation screws up the industry and we find ourselves in another recession, can be used to bail out the airlines. All seems rather pointless really. The youngsters bemoan the legacies left them but when it comes to travel, we knew what we were doing in the 60’s.


www.onboardhospitality.com 31


www.nickbremer.com


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