Because even the dumbest politician can see that railways are a money "Black Hole" (ask Mr Starmer what that means
) Air travel makes money (generally) for all involved and provides lots of jobs. .....
This is undoubtedly true but would the situation change if airlines had to pay the same rate of fuel tax as
TOCs▸ /
FOCs▸ ? Also it seems obvious (to me at least!) that airlines are on the hook for far less fixed infrastructure than train operators.
This argument, I am afraid, is a well-worn red herring. I was told years ago by a
BA» Captain that his shiny new 757 had used 800 gals of fuel to move 200 people from Edinburgh to Heathrow - 4 gals a head (bum on seat ?), 20%
VAT▸ is peanuts. Even on long haul flights it will have minimal effect - with Ryanair now quoting ludicrously low fares people won't notice. The effect on the trains, of course, will be absolutely zero.
"Airlines are on the hook for far less fixed infrastructure than train operators".............really !!! Exactly what ?? Heathrow doesn't shut down at the weekend and lay on buses to Glasgow or wherever, or shut down for a month to resurface the runways. One of my last jobs before I retired was with the replacement of the huge radar antennae used to control air traffic over the
UK▸ . NATS (National Air Traffic Services) paid my company - the airlines paid NATS - the passengers paid the airlines.................NO public money involved ! If you look on the Network Rail website under "income", the very first thing on there is "Government grants".
If I'm headed to Inverness, infrastructure for air is limited to the two ends
Sorry, but you are wrong there Grahame. There are lots of people from NATS watching flights to Inverness all the way - telling them where to go, and at what height. 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week. The infrastructure doesn't stop at the end of the runway.
Admittedly, the airlines do have some advantages. They can buy the model of airliner they want, they can put in what seats they want, they decide which places they want to serve. They are not told by some Government minion to buy what many passengers later come to look on as utter, uncomfortable junk ! (737 Max excluded)
