ABTA and BAR UK call for urgent review into APD
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ABTA has again called on the government to take a “fair and equal” approach to the issue of Air Passenger Departure (APD) tax devolution to ensure regional airports are not left disadvantaged.
“With the Scottish Government reaffirming its commitment to reduce APD by 50%, and eventually abolishing it, ABTA believes that the only sensible approach to ensure fairness for passengers across Great Britain, while improving the tax competitiveness of the whole of the UK, is for the Government to significantly reduce APD, initially by matching the cuts promised in Scotland, with a view to abolishing it altogether in the life of this Parliament,” said ABTA’s head of Public Affairs, Stephen D’Alfonso.
“Our submission highlights that the proposed solutions will add layers of complexity to APD for passengers and businesses while distorting the marketplace. ABTA believes that any solution must result in a fair and equal air tax regime across the UK, and a cut anywhere in Great Britain must to be matched immediately by the same reduction elsewhere.
“This is the only way to avoid a situation where parts of the UK are unfairly disadvantaged by having higher rates of APD, making it costlier for businesses in those areas to trade internationally, more expensive for foreign tourists to visit them and ultimately limit choice for local passengers.
“We call on the Government to launch an urgent review of the broad economic impacts of APD with a view to significantly reducing, or abolishing APD altogether in the life of this Parliament.”
Meanwhile, BAR UK, the organisation representing over 70 airlines, has highlighted the “negative economic impacts of the highest tax of its kind in the world”.
“The current Government clearly recognises that it inherited a deeply flawed air tax and has made small steps to improve fairness, but tinkering is no solution to the challenges posed by tax devolution,” the organisation said in a statement on the matter.
Dale Keller, chief executive of BAR UK added: “The Government’s priority should be to grasp this opportunity to finally resolve the fundamental economic, competitiveness and fairness issues of APD for consumers and businesses, rather than give serious consideration to the three half-baked proposals to assist English regional airports with differential rates of air tax, as presented in the Treasury’s current APD Discussion Paper.
“Why should flying from one UK airport or region cost more in tax than another? With Scotland’s commitment to halve APD by 50% and potentially abolish it altogether, now is the time for the UK Government to take the lead and abolish, or significantly reduce, APD for the benefit of the entire UK.”
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