Travellers pay new "green" airline tax

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) Passengers leaving British airports were having to pay a higher rate of air tax from today or risk being barred from their flights.

Even people who bought tickets before Chancellor Gordon Brown announced the tax hike in December must pay the new rate, which aims to reflect the environmental effects of air travel.

Airlines said they had already contacted most people and taken the extra money from their credit cards.

But some passengers who arrived at airports without having paid the higher Air Passenger Duty had to meet the cost before checking in.

EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic said they asked customers to pay over the Internet. Staff took payments from people at airports. Ryanair and bmi said they had contacted passengers and taken money from the card used to make the original booking.

Airlines said all customers must pay the extra charge before boarding a flight.

But British Airways said it had waived the charge for passengers who booked before December. 6.

Ryanair ran a media campaign attacking ''Greedy Gordon'' and called on him to scrap the changes.

The levy doubles to 10 pounds for short-haul economy flights and 40 pounds for long-haul economy.

It rises to 20 pounds for business and first-class flights in Europe and 80 pounds for long-haul.

The British Air Transport Association, the airlines' trade body, said the higher tax may damage the domestic aviation industry.

''(It) is a misguided and punitive increase driven by party political considerations which will do nothing to improve the environment,'' said Secretary General Roger Wiltshire.

The Treasury said the duty will save the equivalent of three quarters of a million tonnes of carbon every year by 2011.

''The increase ... will better reflect the environmental costs of air travel,'' a spokesman said. ''It is airlines and travel companies -- not passengers -- who are liable for APD.

''It is a commercial matter for these companies whether or not, and how, they choose to pass this on to passengers.'' The Conservatives said the tax may be illegal because it was brought in before it had fully passed through parliament.

''The legal opinion we've received says there is no legal basis to collect the increase in tax,'' said Shadow Chancellor George Osborne.

A Labour Party spokesman dismissed his claims, saying: ''He should stop dreaming up these farcical law-school fantasies and get behind our green policies.'' REUTERS AKJ PM1825