A group of UK tour operators has launched a legal challenge aimed at forcing the Government to scrap its controversial Airport Departure Tax that doubled at the beginning of this month.

The Federation of Tour Operators (FTO) formally served papers this morning seeking a judicial review into Gordon Brown’s decision to increase the tax, that saw levies for economy passengers double to £10 for European flights and £40 for long-haul destinations.

The FTO, whose members include First Choice and Thomas Cook, claims that as a signatory to the 1944 Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation - incorporated into EU law in 2004 - the Government cannot impose charges on aircraft solely for the right of entry or exit to or from the UK.

It said such charges were only permitted if they were based on costs related to the provision of specific services such as use of airports or air navigation services.

The FTO claims the Airport Departure Tax (APD) was not levied for any specific service and is simply a tax designed to raise revenue for general government spending.

The tax is therefore illegal under EU law and should be withdrawn immediately, the FTO claims.

It said it has launched its legal challenge because tour operators had been hit particularly hard by the new taxes because, “unlike airlines, they are largely precluded by law from passing on surcharges to customers who have already booked.”

The FTO is also unhappy that the APD increase applied to people who had already booked holidays before February 1, but were liable for the rise if they travelled on or after that date.

Andrew Cooper, FTO director general, said he had launched the legal challenge with “great reluctance” but added that “tour operators absorbing £50 million of retrospective taxation is simply not an option.”

A Treasury spokesman said: “The Government is confident that APD is entirely legal and will robustly defend any challenge in the courts.”

Today’s challenge comes on the back of comments earlier this month from Adrian Jack, an expert on airline law, who said the increase had no legal basis because the Chancellor had not passed it through the House of Commons.

Mr Jack, who was commissioned by the Conservatives to give a legal opinion on the tax, said it would not become lawful until it was approved in the Finance Bill, expected to be passed in April.

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