Tourist spending in the UK would decrease by £475m a year if the government continues to pursue an increase in Air Passenger Duty (APD), according to budget airline easyJet.

Under the plans, APD will increase from £12 to as much as £16 per person on flights of up to 2,000 miles, with the rates and number of tax bands on long haul flights reduced. The carrier has published the findings of an independent report that explores how proposed changes to aviation taxes - announced in March - would have a negative impact.

Frontier Economics compiled the research, which found that the proposals will see a drop in the number of UK airline passenger numbers by 3 million per year. The overall impact of the plans to the UK's gross domestic product would be worth £2.6m a year, with up to 77,000 jobs expected to be put at risk.

easyJet chief executive officer Carolyn McCall said: "This independent report shows that the government's proposals on APD would be bad for the environment and the economy. "This report provides convincing evidence that the government should not impose further increases in APD on short haul flights and should rethink its policy on aviation taxation."