Global airline representative group the International Air Transport Association (IATA) has said it and its members oppose the UK Government’s plan to increase the cost of its new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) by 60% only a week after its, already controversial, introduction.
The ETA – which came into force last Wednesday, with an initial price tag of £10 – gives clearance to enter the UK if coming from a non-EU country which doesn’t already require a visa.
The price hike to £16 is “bewildering” and could hamper the UK’s competitiveness, IATA said.
IATA Director General, Willie Walsh, said: “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 [UK] 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 travellers with a 60% increase in the ETA is a very bad start. The added cost would come on top of the Air Passenger Duty (APD)—the biggest travel tax in the world—which itself will increase again in April. And, let’s not forget that travellers have choice and the EU’s ETIAS 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 travellers generate. It makes no sense to discourage visitors with high costs even before they set foot in the country.”
