APD cut would boost regions, claim MPS

A CROSS-PARTY group of backbench MPS has urged the government to slash Air Passenger Duty (APD) in order to boost the economy after Brexit.

The report from the All-party Parliamentary Group on

APD Reform says two-thirds of airlines it surveyed would invest in new routes outside of London and the South East if APD was cut by 50%, while nine out of 10 airlines would invest more in existing routes. APD is the highest charge of its kind in Europe and is more than twice the fee levied in Germany which imposes the next highest fee.

Conservative MP Henry Smith, Chair of the all-party parliamentary group, says: “We have the highest aviation taxes in Europe, and this is simply not sustainable and runs counter to the government’s aims for a truly global Britain.”