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.”
