Airports lag behind Euro rivals due to sky-high tax

JODY HARRISON

has. We are adding more and more routes and handling more passengers than ever before, and while this tremendous growth is welcomed by the Scottish Government, we continue to come up against a headwind that restricts the industry’s desire to grow and establish a level playing field with our European competitors.

“Airports, airlines and travel companies are ready to seize the opportunity and position Scotland as a growth market and bring more tourism and business to the country, but the Government must show leadership and the same enthusiasm if we are to succeed.”

Scotland’s strongest area is in its indirect connectivity, where it has services to a reasonable number of European and Middle Eastern hub airports.

The weakest area identified by the report, which was commissioned by Airlines UK and travel agents’ organisation Abta, is in direct long-haul flights. Scotland comes bottom in terms of the number of destinations served, and joint ninth in terms of the number of countries people can fly to.

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of Abta, said: “We welcome the Government’s commitment to reducing ADT, which is good news for Scottish travellers and businesses.

“The current levels are massively out of step with our European counterparts. We believe lower rates will help Scotland’s international competitiveness and the ability of Scottish airports to attract additional connectivity, as this report shows.

“Abta believes the Government should implement any reduction as quickly as possible. This will benefit millions of Scottish holidaymakers and business travellers who currently pay the highest levels of aviation tax in Europe.”

Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, added: “It is clear from the report more can be done to ensure Scotland reaches its full potential and better competes with its European rivals.”

Last year saw the highest number of passengers to use Scotland’s airports, with an increase of more than five per cent on 2015 levels. It is expected passenger numbers will continue to rise in 2017.

A Government spokeswoman

said