LJLA responds to potential Air Passenger Duty cuts for Wales

Plans set out by the Government today to transfer more powers from Westminster to Wales include a promise to consider the merits of devolving further powers to the Welsh Assembly over Air Passenger Duty.

This follows announcements made last month over draft legislation giving new powers to the Scottish Parliament which also included plans to devolve Air Passenger Duty charges at Scottish Airports.

Today’s news could have further implications for other airports across the UK including Liverpool and Andrew Cornish, CEO of Liverpool John Lennon Airport commented, “Liverpool is the closest airport for thousands of passengers from North Wales who choose to fly from here each year. Should plans to lower or abolish APD for airports in Wales go ahead then this is likely to have an impact on our business.

The airport welcomes the opportunity to further contribute to the APD debate and to highlight the damage and loss of business that this tax continues to cause. We would hope that sense will prevail and that the 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 both Wales and Scotland, and to airports across Europe where aviation taxes are already significantly lower than in the UK.”