A couple of weeks ago during a budget statement, the UK government announced changes to the Air Passenger Duty to the Caribbean. Campaigners fighting the APD let out a huge cheer and declared the war won…..I did no such thing. Why? A) because that change does not come in until 2015 and b) because when it does it will save you the paltry sum of £16. I will not cheer for £16 when airfares running into the thousands. BUT I congratulate the APD lobby team on this tiny victory. For the last 6 months I have been a part of a campaign trying to reduce airfares to the Caribbean, but specifically Jamaica. We contend that airfares which can reach as high as £1,700 combined with the reduced luggage allocation to a single bag is simply unfair and unjustifiable. Our claim that these fares are unfair and unjustifiable is based on the simple logical fact that you can fly much further than to Ja for less and other routes on both UK airlines that fly to Ja and the caribbean, allow two bags. At this point I should add that on a Virgin flight to St. Lucia, I understand that a friend had to pay to use a scale to weigh her second piece of luggage that she was having to pay for anyway. I need readers to understand that though I repeatedly say Jamaica, the entire Caribbean is suffering. Suffering because for the most part, the UK flag carriers BA and Virgin, are conducting a unspoken undeclared near monopoly. Since the campaign, our team have kept an eye on airfares Jamaica and as expected BA and Virgin are fighting back. Suddenly I am seeing cheaper fares to Jamaica outside of the normal twice per year sales which both companies normal hold. Last week by email I saw a fare of £664. Last month I saw one for £534. This my friends is not benevolence on their side. This is a distraction and perhaps more importantly an acknowledgement that the cost does not need to be so high. How do I know it’s just a distraction? Well just you wait until you try to book a ticket during peak season. You see BA and Virgin are hoping we will be so excited by these ‘low’ fares that we will halt the campaign. We will not. We will not halt the campaign until such fares are seen during peak times and as sustained for at least two years. We always knew this was a long term fight and we always knew the airlines would not concede to our almost 20,000 signatures (online and paper combines). We have been quiet over recent weeks as we assessed and responded to direct responses from both main airlines. We have also increased our activities on twitter which has turnout to be one of the best ways to get the attention of the big boys. So here’ what we need you to do next. 1) Sign the petition and get friends to sign also. See link below 2) Follow us on the twitter link below. See address below 3) Retweet any post we do on BA and Virgin or airfares in general 4) Get ready for another public meeting in London 5) Get ready for a public meeting in Nottingham 6) Request your own copies of the paper petition if you have people who wish to sign but are not online. As I said during the Birmingham public meeting, a time is fast approaching when we will issue a call to action. I need you to be ready. The twitter link is @action4fairfare The petition link is : change.org/petitions/british-airway-and-virgin-atlantic-community-in-action-against-exorbitant-plane-fares-to-jamaica-and-the-caribbean
Posted on: Sun, 06 Apr 2014 07:29:20 +0000
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