NI Conservatives’ economy spokesman, Johnny Andrews, has urged the executive to ask for powers to cut short-haul air passenger duty (APD), after the airline Flybe axed flights from Belfast City airport to London Gatwick.
“There is no doubt that the duty is damaging the viability of flights from Northern Ireland”, Johnny explained. “It adds £26 typically to the cost of each round trip, which is a considerable percentage of the fare for a short journey. To put it into context the equivalent charge from Dublin airport is around €3. The Conservative led government has already devolved powers to set APD on long-haul flights and now is the time for the executive to state clearly that it wants the same power for short-haul flights and would be prepared to use it.”
“The Gatwick route is just the latest service lost to Belfast airports, following the closure recently of flights to Leeds Bradford and Manchester. It’s clear that Northern Ireland is in a unique position because of its proximity to Dublin, where airport taxes are much lower. Northern Irish passengers are also being effectively taxed twice when they connect in airports on the UK mainland to fly abroad. In order to provide better links for business and leisure and to prevent this region becoming peripheral to the rest of the UK, there is a strong argument for cutting APD. The Scottish islands and Wick in the highlands, which have similar issues, are already exempt from the tax.”
“This executive needs to put together a plan to help our struggling airports and the aviation industry. The sector is vital to other businesses, to tourism and to our economy. It’s is estimated that passengers lost to Dublin cost 500 jobs in 2012. We want to see a cross-party committee on aviation, action to attract new airlines and routes to Northern Ireland and a clear indication that the Assembly wants powers to cut short-haul APD and would use them if they were devolved.”