LIZ CAMERON
One important issue for Scottish businesses which straddled either side of the Scottish Parliamentary Elections was the Scottish Government’s consultation on the devolution of Air Passenger Duty (APD) to Scotland in April 2018. Launched in March this year, the consultation closed last week and Scottish Chambers of Commerce have made a strong case for this tax to be reduced immediately, with a clear timetable towards its abolition.
This is a tax on Scotland’s connectivity, a tax on Scotland’s ambitions and a tax on the growth of our businesses. Report after report from the likes of PwC, Edinburgh Airport and the British Air Transport Association have shown that the reduction and elimination of this tax would have a positive benefit, not just for the aviation industry but for the wider economy, with gains of up to £200 million a year in Scotland. In addition, the experiences of other countries that have axed their air travel taxes has been consistently positive, for example, when Ireland abolished its (much lower) aviation tax in 2014, passenger numbers increased by 7% that year, with substantial increases in services to the US, UAE, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland and Ethiopia, to name a few.
However the results of the Scottish Parliamentary elections have thrown the Scottish Government’s long standing pledge to reduce this tax into some doubt, as all of the opposition parties campaigned against the Scottish Government’s strategy of cutting APD. With the Scottish National Party losing its overall majority in the Scottish Parliament and returning to the role of a minority administration, it no longer has the required number of MSPs to guarantee that this much needed tax cut will be implemented.
I would urge Scotland’s opposition parties to consider the case for reducing APD very carefully. Scotland’s future lies in internationalising our businesses and our geography means that we are naturally reliant on air transport to reach key destinations and markets across the globe. Economic reports have estimated the benefits of reducing this tax to be up to £200 million each year. Environmentally, increases in air passenger numbers need not mean an increase in pollution: between 2009 and 2012, aviation emissions fell by an average of 0.7% annually, despite a growth in passenger numbers over this period, with a further reduction of 0.6% in 2013, despite a 4% growth in passenger numbers over the same period.
The Scottish Parliament is gaining more powers that will enable the Scottish Government to deliver a real competitive advantage for Scotland. Let’s start with cutting APD and growing our connections to the world.
Liz Cameron is chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel