11 December 2006
A last minute prevention effort is going on, spearheaded by AOPA and the BBGA, aimed at preventing a potential fuel price hike in the New Year.
In the New Year, an EU Directive could force governments to bring the taxation on ‘similar’ fuels into line. Avgas is one of the fuels which is currently ‘undertaxed’, and the Directive could add an extra 30p to the price of a litre, bringing it up to the duty level of motor fuel. (Costs of producing the fuel in small quantities and transporting it are apparently more to blame than taxation for Avgas’ actual high price at the pumps).
The UK government, along with other governments, attempted to apply for an exemption to this, but it was blocked. There is, however, the possibility that the impact of the changes can be alleviated: the EU “can allow member states, whose private pleasure flying sector will suffer difficulties from the end of the excise duty exemption, to adopt unspecified measures aimed at alleviating or mitigating problems of transition to the regime of standard taxation”.
Much effort now is being aimed at persuading the government to graduate the way in which it implements the changes. Of immediate comfort is the fact that the 31 December/1 January implementation date is too close for changes to be put into effect.
For more information on this complex subject, see the thread on our forums <a href=’http://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=27953′ target=’_blank’>here</a> and the AOPA latest news <a href=’http://www.aopa.co.uk/newsfromaopa/aopanews.asp’ target=’_blank’>here</a>. Both sites have details of how you can make your concerns known to your MP.
Note that when story was recently covered on Radio 4, it dealt solely with ‘red’ diesel, and concentrated on the boating community. Avgas, however, will also be affected.
