10/06/2014

Newcastle Airport Could Lose Thousands With Scottish Yes Vote

Newcastle Airport could lose thousands of passengers every year if Scotland vote Yes in the independent elections on 18th September.

Pro-independence group Business For Scotland said the North East would benefit from increased investment if Scotland abolished the Airport Passenger Duty (APD), which is tax levied on air passengers leaving UK airports.

The rate means each passenger is charged £13 for short flights and £69 for longer flights.

Newcastle planning director Graeme Mason said: "Customers are very mobile; they'll shop around for the cheapest flight and they'll travel quite long distances to get those flights.

"They could abolish APD altogether, or they can match any reductions made by Scotland. But if they don't do this the North of England is going to be at a serious disadvantage to the rest of Scotland."

Ivan Mckee, of Business For Scotland, said: "Scotland is doing what it should be doing; we're bringing ourselves into line with other countries across Europe who have much lower levels of air passenger duty than we currently have. It's the best thing for the Scottish economy to do, and a growing Scottish economy would be good for the north east of England."

(CVS/CD)

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