Chief executives from British Airways, easyJet, Ryanair and Virgin Atlantic joined together to urge U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer‎ George Osborne to ditch the U.K. air passenger duty.

In a letter to Osborne, easyJet's Carolyn McCall, Willie Walsh from IAG (parent of BA and Iberia), Ryanair's Michael O'Leary and Virgin Atlantic's Steve Ridgway argued against maintaining "a tax on tourism and a tax on business," and wrote that addressing environmental concerns through both the Emissions Trading Scheme, which from 2012 would include airlines, and the APD "is unsustainable." The U.K. APD currently is as high as £170 for premium passengers on ultra-long-haul flights.