easyJet chief warns Reeves against raising flight taxes as it is ‘one of the highest in Europe’

easyJet chief Kenton Jarvis has warned Rachel Reeves not to raise air passenger duty as it is already “one of the highest in Europe.”

Jarvis warned any increase to the flight tax will see demand for holidaymakers in the UK weaken and he is calling for a freeze with the air passenger duty.

Jarvis said that any increase in the flight tax will “naturally dampen demand” and warned against tourist tax in British cities for overnight stays in hotels.

The easyJet boss said, “Any increase in tax that impacts the competitiveness of the UK visitor economy would not be a good thing.”

He said it could encourage tourists to go to rival European cities instead, such as Paris.

“Last year, easyJet flew 15 million tourists into the UK and they spent just under £10 billion across the UK economy… so it’s very important to the visitor economy,” he said.

Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said, “The outlook for the new year brought some mixed news.

“Winter losses are set to get worse, coming in around £30 million behind market expectations, as ongoing investment in its new strategic bases in Milan and Rome continues.”