Ministers ‘caving in to extremists’ with U-turn over air tax

Government drops pledge to remove levy on flights

SNP ministers have been accused of caving in to ‘environmental extremists’ by scrapping a manifesto pledge to reduce tax on air travel.

The Scottish Government U-turn abolished its previous commitment to halve air passenger duty (APD) by 2021 and later remove it altogether.

Ministers said the policy change was needed because the world is facing a ‘climate emergency’.

But airport bosses attacked the ‘reactionary’ decision and accused ministers of ‘sheer hypocrisy’ since they have propped up the loss-making Prestwick Airport with £40million of public cash.

In further environmental moves, ministers will today attempt to secure Holyrood support for controversial plans to impose a new tax on staff parking spaces and roll-out ‘low emission zones’.

The SNP’s manifesto ahead of the 2016 Holyrood elections pledged that it would ‘reduce the overall burden’ of APD, to be renamed air departure tax (ADT), by 50 per cent, beginning in April 2018 and to be delivered in full by 2021.

It added: ‘Air passenger duty will be abolished entirely when resources allow.’

Murdo Fraser, Scottish Conservative finance spokesman, said: ‘The simple truth is [the SNP] never had the will to press ahead with ADT changes, and is now succumbing – once again – to the environmental extremists in its own nationalist movement.’

Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: ‘This decision will do nothing to reduce emissions. Instead, it will cut Scotland off at the knees in terms of connectivity and a competitive playing field.

‘Without world-class transport connections, our efforts to trade internationally will be hampered at a critical point in time.’

The U-turn comes after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon declared a ‘climate emergency’.

Gordon Dewar, chief executive of Edinburgh Airport, said: ‘The Scottish Government continues to implement a successful cut in APD in Inverness which has delivered fantastic economic benefits, and persists on propping up a failing airport at Prestwick to the tune of £40million and counting, so this is sheer hypocrisy.

‘It is absolutely wrong to single out one industry and land the blame on our tarmac.’

Derek Provan, chief executive of AGS Airports which owns Aberdeen and Glasgow airports, said: ‘By dropping plans to cut this tax on passengers we are missing a very real opportunity to secure new routes and, more worryingly, maintain existing services which play a vital role in supporting our economy.’

The Government confirmed that it would today ‘commit to not proceeding with proposed reductions to air departure tax’. It will also lodge an amendment attempting to encourage other parties to support measures to ‘encourage modal shift’ on the environment, including a workplace parking levy and low emission zones.

Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: ‘If we are all in agreement that the planet is facing a climate emergency, then we all need to do what is in the national – and indeed international – interest, and not just what suits party political purposes.’

‘This will do nothing to reduce emissions’