Government’s own impact assessment shows the new mandate could add hundreds more pounds to tickets

A new net-zero “flight tax” on airlines risks adding hundreds of pounds to the cost of family holidays, the Government’s own analysis shows. New rules which came into effect last week force airlines to fill their planes using at least 2 per cent green fuel, rising to 10 per cent and then 22 per cent by 2040. It is part of the Government’s net-zero drive and will mean using fuel derived from cooking oil and animal waste alongside traditional jet fuel in a push to lower emissions. But the so-called Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) mandate is forecast to add more than 20 per cent to the cost of flying. The Government’s own impact assessment of the new mandate, shows that for a family of four, the policy could add £302.40 to the price of plane tickets to and from their holiday destination by 2040. It adds that as much as 80 per cent of the cost of the new levy on airlines risks being passed onto consumers. It is the latest net-zero cost to be passed onto families, who also face higher shopping bills because of fresh levies on plastic packaging coming in this month.

The 15 per cent rise in APD on most flights could add up to £400 onto the price of a family holiday in some cases. Last month, The Telegraph revealed that a new “grocery tax” would push up household shopping bills by up to £1.4 billion a year. The green levy, a per tonne charge on the amount of packaging companies use, is expected to add £56 to household costs annually. In November Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, rowed back on a mooted boiler tax, slashing a levy that was expected to add more than a hundred pounds to the price of a new boiler. Ministers also admitted they were scrapping noise rules that prevented heat pumps from being installed too close to neighbours. Mr Miliband wants to install hundreds of thousands of heat pumps in homes across the UK in order to meet net-zero goals.