No Charge for Passengers Leaving UK

The government has decided against levying a £1 charge on all air passengers leaving the UK.

The charge had been suggested by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to compensate travellers if their airline went bust.

But the Department for Transport said it did not feel that such a scheme was necessary. It also pointed out that the government did not safeguard the retail, building or financial services industries through a refund scheme.

"The attractions of the CAA scheme are outweighed by the disadvantages," it said in a statement.

Airlines had criticised the charge and said it would just cause tickets prices to rise.

A British Airways spokeswoman welcomed today's announcement, saying "We are pleased that the government has made this decision as there is no justification or need for our customers to pay this cost."

Budget airline easyJet maintained that the levy would have raised £250 million within three years - much more than the cost of passengers' compensation claims.

Ray Webster, chief executive of easyJet, said that passengers already had sufficient protection under commercial insurance and the voluntary codes of conduct which airlines subscribe to.