The Scottish Government is taking forward plans for a Scottish replacement to Air Passenger Duty (APD) and today launched a consultation seeking views on how a Scottish replacement to APD should be structured and operated from 1st April 2018, which will subsequently reduce the tax by 50%.

Responding to the draft legislation a Liverpool John Lennon Airport spokesperson commented,

“The Airport welcomes the opportunity to participate in this consultation and will continue to highlight that APD remains a barrier to airline growth in the UK as has been recognised by the Scottish Government.

If there are to be cuts in APD of 50% at airports in Scotland, then these need to be matched elsewhere across the UK. We would hope that sense will prevail and that the UK Government would subsequently ensure a consistent charging regime across all parts of the UK, so as not to put airports such as Liverpool at a disadvantage compared to those in Scotland, and to airports across Europe where aviation taxes are already significantly lower than in the UK.”