Flybe and APD
 

Sorry to see Flybe struggling.

A SW firm with a basically sound business model but for the imposition of the Air Passenger Duty tax which has to be paid each time one of their planes takes off.

This stupidity was said by some to be a worthwhile move to help save the planet.

Now, a slice of reality is presented in that this tax has taken Flybe to the wall and the Government is now likely to significantly reduce this tax across the board as it cannot selectively help Flybe under current rules.

Common sense at last?

I do hope so.

I was reading yesterday the powers that be want to end all concessionary taxes on aviation and put a blanket green tax in place on all flights coming into & out of Europe, Apparently nine countries have signed the pledge to implement these measures. :eek:


On the same subject KLM are now advising passengers wanting short haul flights to use the railways instead to keep emissions down. :eek:
It's to do with Greta's flight shaming and the railways are seeing a huge rise in passenger numbers.

Saving our environment will increasingly become the primary issue that permulates everywhere.

I doubt the Air Passenger Duty is the sole reason for their predicament. Must be other things too. As usual company blaming everyone else for their woes.

Any "handouts" to private companies makes me wonder why some and not others? MGR didn't get a handout, nor did Thomas Cooks. Where will it end? Nobody helped me out during the financial crisis. I closed my business rather than building up huge debts with creditors. Everybody got paid and I had to start life all over again! Perhaps I am too honest or just too cynical to be in the modern business environment.:shrug:

Sounds to me like you are just a thoroughly decent and honest chap.
Playing fast and loose with someone else's money is nothing to be proud of, sadly it goes on all the time.

Flybe's financial history is not exactly stellar. APD I would argue has little to do with their historical financial woes. Must go a lot deeper than that I would have thought but none of us really know the real story at this moment in time. Will have to see what comes out in the wash later. Hopefully some sort of rescue may come about but they have already been "rescued" once.

APD is paid by the travelling passengers and not the shareholders/owners of the comps they fly with. The passengers have paid up but the shareholders/owners of FB it would seem want to trouser their APD payments for the time being at least if not indefinitely ... and at what cost to muggings the taxpayers?

Couldn't agree more. So Flybe has amassed £100 million quid of APD payments and witheld them from HMRC deliberately. Mind you makes you wonder whether HMRC have been asleep to let it grow to that size.

I wonder how a S/E plumber would fare if he held back his Schedules and taxes due at the end of an accounting period. Doesn't matter a jot which airports they fly from or what the side priorities are, if they can't pay they shouldn't fly. Funny how it doesn't apply to the customers. If revenues are that tight there are underlying problems that bode badly. There are hundreds of small businesses that are more important to local communities than a cheap airline.