ABTA welcomes new transport minister
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ABTA has welcomed the appointment of Justine Greening MPas the new Secretary of State for Transport. Greening has replaced PhilipHammond at the Department for Transport (DfT) and has been welcomed by ABTAdespite her criticism of airport expansion in previous roles.
Mark Tanzer,chief executive of ABTA said Greening’s appointment had come at a ‘critical’time for the travel industry.
“The industry is at a critical juncture aswe await the Government’s final position on ATOL reform and as it begins torenew its aviation policy. Justine Greening is not new to transport policy andin her last role was responsible for reforming Air Passenger Duty,” explained Tanzer.”Justine Greening demonstrated a clear grasp of our sector when sheappeared at ABTA’s Travel Matters conference this year. She spoke clearly aboutthe Government’s position on aviation duty and we look forward to the sameforensic approach being applied to transport policy. She knows that our sectoris critically important to the UK economy. We also look forward to workingclosely with her on ATOL reform in the coming weeks and months”.
In addition,Chloe Smith MP has been named as the new Minister at the Treasury responsiblefor APD. ABTA will continue to lobby against increases and is also working withthe DfT on its ATOL reform position.