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Airport Operators Association response to Scottish Government consultation on Air Passenger Duty

Responding to the publication of the Scottish Government consultation setting out options for how it intends to reduce Air Passenger Duty (APD) by 50%, Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of the Airport Operators Association, the trade association that represents 55 UK airports, said:

“The Scottish Government has been doing all the running on this issue for a long time now, and Ministers in Westminster need to acknowledge that their failure to respond has created a lot of uncertainty. Scottish Ministers have been quite clear that they will start to reduce APD by 50% in 2018. Given that the Treasury’s own analysis suggests that such a move will create a competitive distortion and damage airports in other parts of the UK, we desperately need the Chancellor to respond to his own discussion paper on this matter – itself well over 6 months old – and offer reassurances that a cut anywhere in the UK should be matched immediately by a cut everywhere.”