Consumer Council calls for APD to be scrapped on Belfast flights
03.06.11
Air Passenger Duty (APD) should be scrapped on flights from Northern Ireland because of its dependence on flight connections via Great Britain, the Belfast Telegraph reports that the Consumer Council has said. The call comes as the amount levied on a return flight from Belfast to London could increase to £32 because of a review of the levy.
The Treasury is consulting on options for reform, and wants to ensure aviation meets the cost of its impact on the environment. However, Scott Kennerley, head of transport policy at the Council, told a Stormont committee: ‘We intend to call for passenger duty to be removed from all air travel to and from Northern Ireland, given our high dependence on air travel.'
‘If you need to travel from Northern Ireland to somewhere else within the UK for interlining or connecting to another European airport, for example, we have to fly so in many cases we pay that charge twice, we don`t have an alternative.’
In Dublin the equivalent tax is €3 per person and that may be removed, also creating a disincentive for people to fly from their local airport, which can increase the impact on the environment.
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