Action Briefing Jun 2003 - Jul 2003
	The Newsletter of Birmingham Friends of the Earth

Flight Tax Tickets to be re-issued

Birmingham Friends of the Earth is re-launching its Voluntary Flight Tax Scheme at Solihull Environment Day, 15th June, Breuton Park, Solihull. We have produced a thousand Flight Tax Tickets, special booklets which outline the environmental cost of air travel and offer a way for travellers to offset some of that cost when they fly.

In the absence of an official tax on aviation, our scheme lets you make a voluntary contribution based on the price of your flight. Half of your contribution will be used to mitigate some of the environmental damage caused by air travel, through investment in renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power. The remainder will be used to support our campaign for the right price for air travel.

The amount you pay is entirely up to you. As a guideline, the VAT that should be being charged on your ticket is 17.5%, however a typical contribution is around 10% of the cost of the flight.

By participating in this scheme travellers will be giving us more than just financial support. They will be signalling to politicians and the aviation industry that people are in favour of a real flight tax - so much so that they are already making voluntary payments.

James Botham