REGIONAL airports will be disproportionately affected by the Government’s approach to Air Passenger Duty (APD), Leeds Bradford Airport (LBA) and airline Jet2.com have told Chancellor George Osborne.
John Parkin, chief executive of LBA, and Ian Doubtfire, managing director of Jet2.com, co-authored a letter pressing Mr Osborne to reconsider a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
The letter welcomed the decision to reduce taxation on air services from Northern Ireland, and pressed the Chancellor to extend the reduction to the UK regions to support economic growth and the “rebalancing” of the UK economy.
They said: “Regional airports and airlines have a lower percentage of business travellers or inbound tourists with a high propensity to fly than the London airports, and have been hit hard by economic downturn. That’s not just bad news for our businesses. It’s bad for jobs, bad for inward investment and bad for wealth creation in the UK regions.
“If the Government is serious about truly rebalancing the economy, then decisive action is needed on behalf of the 86 million passengers that fly from our airports.
“Regional airports and airlines stand ready to help the Government in its ambition to create ‘better not bigger’ London airports, with regional airports taking more of the strain.
“But if a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to aviation taxes continues, we will simply be unable to deliver on this.”
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