THE British Air Transport Association represents 11 UK airlines, seven of which have scheduled passenger operations to and from Scottish airports. We support the policy of the Scottish Government to reduce air passenger duty (APD) by 50 per cent (“Axing air travel tax would be ‘obvious’ move”, The Herald, August 19). The change will make Scotland more competitive with its nearest European rivals and provide a welcome boost to investment, trade and inbound tourism.
However, we also respect the concerns expressed by some respondents to the recent consultation on the environmental impacts of a reduction in APD of this kind, and all our members recognise that aviation growth must go hand-hand with action to tackle carbon emissions.
For instance, on a global level, our industry has made a number of commitments to reduce its environmental externalities in the coming years. We have signed up to stringent targets witht the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), to achieve carbon neutral growth from 2020, and a net 50 per cent reduction in global CO2 emissions up to 2050, based on 2005 levels.
In the UK, we believe we are making good progress in meeting these objectives. Since 2008 UK airlines have increased their carbon efficiency by more than 11per cent, improving by 1.9 per cent per annum since 2010, which exceeds the industry goal of 1.5 per cent per year.
Such advances have largely been achieved through the acquisition of 470 new aircraft, with these planes being up to 20 per cent more fuel-efficient than the aircraft they replace. This significant investment by airlines, valued at $50 billion, has helped to save around 20 million tons of CO2 since 2005.
Hundreds more new aircraft are on order and due to enter the UK fleet in the coming years, which will help to continue these improvements. Airlines are also working through ICAO to support a global market-based measure for aviation emissions, to enable the industry to achieve its interim target of carbon neutral growth from 2020.
UK airlines continue to invest in new aircraft and procedures to improve efficiency, reduce fuel burn and minimise carbon emissions. We therefore believe that the additional activity generated as a result of any future APD reduction is not incompatible with delivering on our environmental obligations.
Tim Alderslade,
Chief executive, British Air Transport Association,
64 Victoria Street, London.
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