Airlines for Europe (A4E) members Carolyn McCall, chief executive of easyJet, Willie Walsh, chief executive of IAG and Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, warned on Sunday that Air Passenger Duty (APD) was hampering Britain’s economic growth, business and tourism, at a time when global

business links post-Brexit needed to be strengthened.

A4E has long been campaigning for APD to be abolished.

The three chief executives claimed its removal would boost GDP by 1.7% and create 61,000 new jobs by 2020.

“APD damages the UK’s competitiveness and jobs,” said Walsh.

“It’s a revenue-raising tax is designed to suppress air transport growth which is exactly what the economy does not need right now.

“Britain spends many millions of pounds attracting people to the country only to charge them up to £146 when they leave.

“Other countries which have scrapped their aviation taxes have seen an immediate boost to their GDP and tourism.

“Why saddle businesses and tourists with a tax that your European competitors do not have? APD is well past its sell-by date and must be scrapped.”

Britain has the highest rate of aviation tax in the world and in 2015 APD raised £3 billion from nearly 110 million passengers.

Other European countries have demonstrated the benefits of removing APD, with the Netherlands and Ireland both reporting strong passenger growth after scrapping their taxes, A4E claimed.

O’Leary said: “The introduction of a travel tax in Ireland in 2009 caused passenger numbers at Irish airports to collapse by almost 25%, from 30 million to 23 million over four years, damaging tourism and inhibiting growth.

“Thankfully, the Irish government scrapped this tax in April 2014, which resulted in immediate traffic and route expansion at Irish airports, where Ryanair has grown strongly, and an influx of high spending tourists to Ireland, with passenger numbers reaching record levels.

“We call on the UK government to follow the Irish example and scrap APD for everyone, to allow Britain to become competitive and stimulate job creation and tourism.”

McCall added: “It is not just visitors to the UK the tax affects - people travelling between London and Edinburgh for example are currently being hit twice as hard by paying £13 each way on the flights.

“So, removing APD could also strengthen the connections within the UK.”