Chancellor George Osborne has been urged to halt plans to increase airline taxes ahead of this week's budget.
In an unprecedented move, the CEOs of seven UK airlines - including BA, Virgin and Easyjet - as well as overseas airlines, unions and tour operators have come together in an open statement asking Osborne to halt the rise in air passenger duty.
Osborne plans to increase the tax by 8% - described as "huge", and a move which the British Chambers of Commerce predicted could cost 25,000 jobs in the next five years and £100bn to the UK economy by 2030.
"In his Autumn Statement the Chancellor said the government aspires to having the 'most competitive tax regime in the G20' and that 'we shouldn't price British business out of the world economy'.
"Yet he has increased the tax on flying to a level unparalleled anywhere else in the world," they write in an open statement seen by The Huffington Post UK.
"It is a decision that is short-sighted and ill-considered and will place the UK at an even greater competitive disadvantage. For a government that has, quite rightly, made the economy its number one priority this decision defies reason."
"It goes against common-sense, economic logic and continues the tax discrimination against air travellers."
The industry figures add they are "puzzled as well as disappointed" by the move.
The letter's signatories include Kevin George the managing director of Monarch Airline, EasyJet CEO Carolyn McCall, BMI's CEO Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, Virgin Atlantic's CEO Steve Ridgway, British Airways CEO Keith Williams, CEO of British Airways and Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite.
In Wednesday's Budget Osborne is expected to confirm an increase in the tax, which is normally between £12-85 per person taking a flight.