Air travel for all?
March 13, 2007
Naturally some of the big travel blogs had a reaction to the Tories' aviation tax proposals, and common to two of those reactions (Francisca Kellett at The Telegraph and Darren at Travelrants) was a social equality argument. Higher taxes, they both wrote, will price the poor out of the market, making air travel the preserve of the rich.
This is undoubtedly true, but I thought it raised a question. To what extent is air travel a right? The near-universal air travel we are used to is made possible by low-cost airlines, so what happens if the low-cost model stops being sustainable?
Nathan Midgley
Comments (3)
I don't think that air travel is a right. I have always thought that the period over the last few years is an unsustainable blip. I have certainly exploited this window of opportunity. This whole argument about increasing prices for air travel increasing social inequality is not that valid because any good or service which is expensive could then be labelled socially devisive. Should I be stamping my feet because I don't live in mansion and drive a Ferrari!
Posted by Karen Bryan | March 14, 2007 2:13 PM
Posted on March 14, 2007 14:13
Thanks for your comments Karen. It can be an amazingly emotive subject, this - the discussion became quite heated on Travelrants. I think the debate tends to be conducted on the level of whether it's *desirable* for everyone to have access to air travel, which to me is just a given - of course it's desirable. The question is whether it's realistic.
Posted by Nathan | March 14, 2007 4:39 PM
Posted on March 14, 2007 16:39
There's nothing like a debate about the environment huh! I have to admit its a subject I don't particularly like blogging about, because I simply don't know enough about it.
Even so, its something we all need to think about and whilst we all complained about the increase in APD [myself included] it has got us all thinking about the environment.
Posted by Darren | March 15, 2007 3:50 AM
Posted on March 15, 2007 03:50