The leaders of three of Scotland's largest airports have joined forces with ministers and tourism chiefs to demand a tax on air travel be devolved before next year's Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup.
Industry leaders warn there is anxiety that tourists will be put off from flying to both events in 2014 because of high Air Passenger Duty (APD) charges.
Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh Airport, said the charge was causing airlines to question the viability of basing some planes in Scotland.
The Commonwealth Games are to be held in Glasgow in the summer, followed by the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles in September, when thousands of supporters of the European and American teams are expected to fly in.
He said: "This tax has now hit its tipping point where the damage it is doing to Scotland far outweighs the benefits. It cannot stand and must be reviewed as a matter of urgency.
"Airlines are telling us they are seeing it have an impact on passenger flows which is ultimately having an impact on their decision-making on where to put planes.
"This means that our country has to work harder to get the connections it requires. The evidence lays bare the argument that this tax is assisting with the deficit. Rather, APD is hindering our ability to tackle the economic challenges Scotland faces."
The tax can add between £13 and £184 to the cost of flying within the UK.
Late last year, Edinburgh, along with Aberdeen and Glasgow airports, commissioned a report which predicted the tax could lead to a drop in both passengers and tourism spending.
APD could cost the Scottish economy £210 million a year in lost tourism spending by 2016, and lead to 2.1 million fewer passengers in Scotland's airports, it warned.
The majority of MSPs believe the Scottish Parliament should have control over the aviation tax.
Transport Minister Keith Brown said: "Scotland will welcome the world in 2014 courtesy of the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup, and yet we are in the absurd situation of increasing costs for people who intend to visit Scotland.
"The World Economic Forum, Travel And Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013 shows the UK has among the highest aviation taxes and charges in the world, ranked 139th out of 140.
"I would urge the UK Government to deliver devolution of APD as soon as possible so we can develop a regime that makes Scotland more competitive."
A Transport Scotland study found a family of four flying in economy class from the US to Scotland would have to pay £268 more than to fly to most other European countries, while a couple from Spain would have to pay an extra £52 for a return flight to Scotland.
Mike Cantlay, chairman of VisitScotland, said: "As we look ahead to the spectacular opportunity to reposition Scottish tourism when Scotland welcomes the world in 2014, I know the industry is anxious about how competitive Scotland will be in terms of access by air. Survey after survey shows the sheer lunacy of inbound APD and that overall the Exchequer will suffer from discouraging visitors to fly to the UK."
Airlines, airports and holiday companies have all urged Chancellor George Osborne to scrap the tax.
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 hereComments are closed on this article