Air Passenger Duty (APD)

The City of Derry Airport fully endorses the recent views expressed by Michael Cawley, the Deputy Chief Executive of Ryanair, that Air Passenger Duty (APD) is an unfair tax that is having a hugely negative effect across the UK regions and in particular here in Northern Ireland.

Over 80% of all flights to and from Northern Ireland are to airports in Great Britain, this means that our passengers are charged APD on both legs of their journey. At the current rate passengers are charged £26 in tax on a return ticket to anywhere in GB from Northern Ireland.

Passengers in Great Britain also have other travel options if they wish to avoid the tax – they can drive or get the train. These options are very limited or non-existent for Northern Ireland travellers. Therefore APD has a disproportionate effect on Northern Ireland passengers because for many they have no choice but to fly.

Finally Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that has a land border with another EU state that has a different taxation system. From 1 April 2014 Ireland’s equivalent to APD is being abolished. This creates a competitive price differential that is encouraging passengers in ever greater numbers to fly from airports south of the border. The other effect of this tax differential is that airlines are choosing to put new flights into countries where there is no travel taxation. This makes it even more difficult to develop new routes to and from Northern Ireland.

All of Northern Ireland’s political parties and the Executive in Stormont agree that this tax is bad for Northern Ireland. It is unfair, unjust and is detrimental to growth of the Northern Ireland economy. It is imperative that our politicians persuade the Exchequer in London to reduce or remove this tax in order to facilitate the connectivity Northern Ireland needs for business, leisure and tourism.