APD and the Budget

As seems to be the way now,  BTN  was inundated with comment from interested parties regarding last week’s Budget and its effect Air Passenger Duty (APD).

In essence there is no change but there will be a discussion paper with three options under scrutiny.

1. Devolving within England
2. Varying rates within England
3. Providing aid to regional airports within England

Darren Caplan, Chief Executive of AOA, the trade association, said: “With the Scottish Government promising to reduce APD by 50% north of the border – and consideration also being given to devolving responsibility for APD to Wales – the only way to ensure complete fairness, without creating any distortions, is for there to be a consistent rate of APD and for any cut anywhere in the UK to be matched, immediately, by the same reduction in all parts of the country.”

Ernst & Young, the financial experts, commented:

“The Treasury is reacting to concerns raised by English regional airports about collateral damage from possible APD rate reductions at nearby airports in Scotland or Wales, but this also raises the spectre of a compliance nightmare for airline operators who will need to administer multiple APD rates within the same country with extensive system changes required and re-pricing of flights.”  More complexity rather than less.  www.gov.uk/air-passenger-duty

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