As London prepares for this weekend's Notting Hill Carnival, Abta has highlighted the impact on Caribbean communities of planned increases to Air Passenger Duty.

Thousands of people from the Caribbean visit friends and relatives during the carnival each year, and Abta warned they would face a “dramatic” increase in the cost next year.

The association said the increases in November this year and in 2010 would potentially put the trip out of reach for people in the Caribbean and UK Caribbean communities wanting to travel home.

APD is currently £40 for one person to travel from London to the Caribbean but that is due to rise to £50 in November and £75 in November next year.

A family of four would therefore pay £200 in tax this year and £300 in 2011, which Abta dubbed a “flying poll tax”.

Abta is calling on the UK government to follow the Dutch, who scrapped a similar tax because research showed the damage to the economy was higher than the revenue it raised.

Chief executive Mark Tanzer said: “These APD increases will have a terrible impact on the cost of flying to see family and other loved ones both going to and coming from the Caribbean. 

“They will also discourage tourists from visiting the islands, with potentially devastating effects on local economies”. 

Abta’s petition can be accessed at abta.com.

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