Flybe has welcomed efforts to examine the issue of unfair Air Passenger Duty during a key debate in the Scottish parliament today (Tuesday).
The regional airline says that scrapping the controversial tax on air travel is long overdue and hopes Holyrood can make significant progress on the issue.
The Westminster government has made changes to APD banding, which will see a reduction in taxation of passengers travelling on long-haul flights from next year.
But Flybe believes more action is needed and continues to call on chancellor George Osborne to scrap the tax, which it claims hits consumers, harms tourism and hurts economic growth.
The airline believes that today’s debate in Scotland represents a fresh opportunity to examine the economic impact of the air tax.
Chief executive Saad Hammad (pictured) said: “We welcome today’s debate as an important step towards rectifying this taxation which places us, as a UK regional airline, at a competitive disadvantage and continues to damage Scotland’s aspirations for economic growth.
“Across the aviation industry, scrapping APD would not only incentivise airlines to provide new routes and enhance travel for Scotland’s passengers, it would also significantly boost business and the economy.”
He added: “Scottish business people and consumers have had to count the cost of paying this tax twice when travelling domestically to an English airport – a disproportionate financial penalty which must not be allowed to continue.
“New destinations going hand-in-hand with considerably more passengers can only mean one thing – growth – and the incentive to capitalise on Scotland’s rich tourism experience and established business sector, with more employment and investment, has to be a major consideration in today’s debate.”