Devolution of air tax must not harm rest of the UK

27 November 2014 – Today’s Smith Commission recommendation that Air Passenger Duty (APD) should be included as one of the taxes devolved to Scotland, has drawn a warning on the potential of competitive distortion from the Board of Airline Representatives (BAR UK) representing 74 airlines.

BAR UK chief executive, Dale Keller, said “The Scottish Government has already indicated it would slash or scrap the world’s highest air passenger tax to stimulate the local economy. The right time is now for the whole of the UK to share equally in the benefits a phasing out of APD would deliver.”