Reacting to the World Economic Forum’s report, Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways’ parent company, IAG; Carolyn McCall, chief executive easyJet; Michael O’Leary, chief executive Ryanair and Craig Kreeger, chief executive of Virgin Atlantic jointly said:

“The WEF report shows that Britain has the highest aviation taxes and charges in the world, ranked 139th out of 140 and rubbing shoulders with countries like Chad, Senegal and the Dominican Republic.

“It’s hard to find another comparable table on a key measure of international competitiveness which shows the UK to be trailing the rest of the world. This isn’t just a blow to our national pride but demonstrates the unjustified level of Air Passenger Duty and, following the recent PWC report, provides further evidence that the Chancellor must take action in the Budget on this destructive tax.

“The PWC report highlighted the critical role that aviation plays as an engine of economic growth for both international commerce and tourism. It confirms that abolishing APD would provide the UK economy with a GDP boost worth at least £16 billion in the first three years, generating enough extra revenue from other taxes to give the Treasury a net gain and resulting in almost 60,000 new jobs in the UK.

“We call upon the Chancellor to use the forthcoming Budget to remove APD to stimulate economic growth and create jobs.”