Scotland’s airports, airlines, business and tourism organisations request meeting with First Minister following ADT u-turn
Scotland’s airports, airlines, business and tourism organisations request meeting with First Minister following ADT u-turn
Representatives of Scotland’s main airports, airlines, business and tourism organisations have today (Wednesday 22 May) written to the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon MSP, requesting a joint meeting following the Scottish Government’s policy u-turn on Air Departure Tax (ADT).
Earlier this month, the Scottish Government confirmed it was abandoning its manifesto pledge to cut and eventually abolish ADT, a move which would have played a major role in strengthening Scotland’s connectivity and boosting its tourism industry.
AGS Airports, which owns and manages Aberdeen and Glasgow airports, Edinburgh Airport, Airlines UK, CBI Scotland, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, SCDI, Scottish Tourism Alliance and the Scottish Passenger Agents Association have all co-signed a letter in which they express their concern at the lack of consultation ahead of the decision and the impact it will have on Scotland’s connectivity.
The letter states:
“In developing this policy position, the Scottish Government consulted extensively with industry, convening its first ADT Stakeholder Forum as far back as 6 August 2015. This forum provided a platform to highlight the detrimental impact of Air Passenger Duty (APD) on Scotland’s connectivity and to share the tangible benefits a cut would deliver in terms of job creation and route development.
“Strong connectivity drives a range of activities that underpin successful, sustainable modern economies, from inward investment to exporting, productivity and tourism. Unfortunately, when benchmarked against European countries of a similar size, it is clear that Scotland’s connectivity lags.
“This was confirmed in your Government’s recently published plan for growing exports ‘Scotland: A Trading Nation’ which stated “we do not have as many direct long haul flights when compared to similar sized European nations.” The same report outlined your ambitions to enhance international connectivity to allow Scottish businesses to increase their earnings; to make Scotland more attractive to potential inward investors and to attract more inbound tourism.
“It is difficult to see how this can now be achieved in light of the sudden reversal in policy which will serve to further exacerbate our connectivity deficit. Our airports are already reporting a loss of routes and the promised cut in ADT would have provided airlines with the confidence required to invest in Scotland.
“All of us share your ambitions for Scotland to become a ‘carbon neutral’ economy by 2045, however, this decision will do nothing to further that goal. Aviation is a global industry and therefore requires international action to reduce global CO2 emissions. In the UK, the aviation industry has already decoupled growth in aviation from growth in emissions and is investing billions of pounds in developing new sustainable aviation fuels for cleaner and quieter aircraft.
“Given the lack of consultation ahead of the decision on ADT and the lack of recognition of the huge steps the aviation industry is taking to tackle CO2 emissions, we are requesting a joint meeting to better understand how the Scottish Government can support an industry that has such an important role to play in strengthening Scotland’s global standing.
Our organisations wish to work with you to ensure there is a cohesive, evidenced-based policy backdrop that allows us all to help deliver sustainable economic growth for Scotland.”
