New Ulster Unionist MP for South Antrim, Danny Kinahan, has supported calls made by the Managing Director of Belfast International Airport to abolish Air Passenger Duty for all flights from Northern Ireland.

 Danny Kinahan MP MLA said:

 “Graham Keddie, MD of Belfast International Airport, has quite rightly highlighted the fact that he is not competing on a level playing field with Dublin Airport, a state owned and state supported facility, which is not burdened by having to charge its customers’ Air Passenger Duty (APD).

 “APD is an uncompetitive tax and a barrier to trade, investment and tourism. The Ulster Unionist Party believes that a cut in APD should be applied right across the whole of the UK so that the benefits are shared by all, and no part of the country is disadvantaged in any way. 

 “Recent changes have seen HM Government devolve APD on direct long-haul flights from Northern Ireland to Stormont on 1 January 2013. On 22 January 2015, it announced the devolution of APD to Scotland following the Smith Commission recommendations, in the wake of the no vote on Scottish independence.

 “At Westminster, I am urging HM Government to think about this issue strategically and on a pan UK basis.

 “Northern Ireland has a particular problem due to our relative geographic isolation, and sharing a land border with an EU partner who has scrapped Air Passenger Duty. The number of Northern Ireland based passengers using Dublin Airport has doubled since 2010, and passenger numbers going south in 2014 increased by 52% over 2013.

 “At the present time, with the airport tax incentives in place in the Republic, we in Northern Ireland are not competing on a level playing field with Dublin as an entry point to the island.  Tourism Ireland is spending Northern Ireland taxpayers’ money on marketing in various countries and destinations across the world, but most of this is attracting tourists who have no direct access to Northern Ireland. 

 “The MD of the International Airport’s call on Air Passenger Duty is timely, and should be heeded at both Stormont and Westminster.”