Budget 2012: expats hit in the pocket by APD ABTA, the body representing 1,300 members from the travel industry, said the news was "a further hammer blow to the industry." "The Chancellor's confirmation that he intends to go ahead with double inflationary rise in APD on April 1, together with a further increase in 2013, is incredibly disappointing," said chief executive Mark Tanzer. Airlines also oppose the tax increase, with the chief executives of easyJet, Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways-owner International Airlines Group teaming up in a joint-response, saying that APD had "no international parallel" anywhere else in the world. Currently, only five European countries levy any form of aviation tax and the UK's rate is already the highest. The Airport Operators Association said it was "dismayed" at the APD decision, while airline chiefs described APD as a "job-destroying tax." The rise in APD come at a time when Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), an environmental tax on aviation, is being introduced but the Government has not announced any plans to offset the revenue raised from the ETS against APD. However ABTA sources said they were encouraged by Mr Osborne's apparent U-turn on the Government's aviation policy. Mr Osborne said that the country had to "confront the lack of capacity in the south east of England" and "cannot cut ourselves off from the fastest growing cities in the world." London Mayor Boris Johnson is said to be in favour of a new Thames Estuary airport. A Government statement in January indicated that such an estuary scheme would be among those considered.