WHILE LABOUR GOVT RAISED APD TO £15 PER PAX & BURNHAM ALLOWS REGIONAL MAYORS TO DOUBLE TAX UK VISITORS

Ryanair, the UK’s no.1 airline, today (Fri, 2 Oct) dismissed Transport Minister, Heidi Alexander’s effort to fool UK consumers by claiming she is scrapping “extra” fees when no such extra fees exist.

UK Airlines do not charge her claimed “extra” fees. Currently all UK airlines, including Ryanair, allow (and have always allowed) children under 12 to sit with their parent free of charge. Similarly, passengers are already given a 24-hour grace period to correct minor spelling errors on bookings free of charge.

Today’s press release by the Transport Minister is a failed attempt to distract from the fact that both she and Labour Govt have repeatedly failed UK consumers by ignoring mis-selling of inflated air fares by unauthorised OTAs, they have raised the harmful APD tax on flights to £15 in 2026, which hurts all families (£60 for a family of 4), and she has failed to take any action despite repeated NATS ATC collapses. Heidi Alexander is wasting time commissioning reports while overpaid failure Martin Rolfe remains in post as CEO of NATS whose ATC system keeps collapsing.

If Heidi Alexander really wants to do something for UK consumers, she should immediately dismiss overpaid (£1.4m p.a.) NATS CEO, Martin Rolfe, she should scrap the Labour Govt’s £15 APD (£60 for a family of 4) and reject Andy Burnham’s madcap plan to “double tax” UK visitors by allowing regional mayors to levy a hotel tax on top of £15 APD. This double taxing of UK visitors will make UK air travel even more uncompetitive, particularly for price-sensitive families travelling on well-earned holidays.

Ryanair’s CEO, Michael O’Leary, said:

“Today’s vacuous PR by Transport Minister, Heidi Alexander, is typical political spin. She’s pretending to do something while in reality doing nothing. There are no fees for children to sit with their parents on UK airlines, and no fees for making minor spelling changes to bookings. Her press release is designed to cover over the damage that this Labour Govt has inflicted on UK air travel by raising UK APD to £15 per ticket (£60 for a family of 4) in 2026, and her inexplicable failure to sack failing overpaid NATS CEO, Martin Rolfe, from his £1.4m job despite “taking responsibility” for 4 ATC system collapses in the UK over the last 4 years, when no other European ATC system has suffered any collapses.

If Andy Burnham is serious about making “everyday fixes” then he should start by abolishing £15 APD and scrap his stupid plan to allow regional mayors to “double tax” UK visitors. This is a Prime Minister who talks a lot, but when push comes to shove, delivers zero action. Heidi Alexander’s press release today is not an “everyday fix” it’s just “everyday spin” from a Govt that keeps raising taxes on air travel for UK families and visitors.”