To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will revise the regulations applying to the increase in air passenger duty from 1 February 2007 to exclude flights already booked. (115432)

As the HMRC pre-Budget report note published on 6 December makes clear, the new rates will come into effect on 1 February 2007 and apply to the carriage of a passenger on an aircraft which begins on or after that date.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether revenue from the increase in airline passenger duty will be spent on tackling climate change; and if he will make a statement. (116453)

As the Chancellor made clear in his pre-Budget report statement, the increase in air passenger duty will secure extra resources in the coming spending round for the Government's priorities such as public transport and the environment.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what preparatory work his Department undertook to assess the effects of the increase in passenger duty announced in the pre-Budget report on (a) airlines and (b) passengers. (116574)

The air passenger duty rate change was made taking into account environmental, social and economic impacts.

The Chancellor’s 2006 pre-Budget report announced that increases to air passenger duty would deliver carbon savings of 0.3MtC a year by 2010-11. When the effects of non-carbon dioxide emissions are taken into account this has a climate change impact equivalent to saving around 0.75MtC per year by 2010-11.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people who will refuse to pay additional amounts of air passenger duty at airports after 1 February if required to do so by airlines for tickets booked before that date. (116575)

As has been the case since the air passenger duty was introduced in 1994, air carriers (i.e. scheduled airlines and other air transport operators) are responsible for ensuring they pay the correct amount of duty to HM Revenue and Customs. How, or whether, they choose to pass that cost on to their customers is a matter for them.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of people who will pay the higher rates of air passenger duty announced in the pre-Budget report in the 12 months after 1 February. (116629)

HM Revenue and Customs' econometric analysis suggests that between 1 February 2007 and 1 February 2008 a projected 115 million passengers eligible for air passenger duty will fly from the UK.