NI business chiefs urge chancellor to scrap Air Passenger Duty

The Business Alliance want the chancellor to scrap APD in today’s budget statement to ensure Northern Ireland is not cut off from the rest of the UK.

The alliance is a partnership between the Confederation of British Industry Northern Ireland (CBI NI), the Centre for Competitiveness, the Institute of Directors Northern Ireland (IoD NI), and the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

In a joint statement, the Business Alliance said that they collapse of Flybe “significantly reduced” Northern Ireland’s air connectivity with the regions of the UK.

“Our membership relied heavily on the Flybe network and accounted for a large proportion of the 1.6 million passengers that utilised the airline to and from Belfast in 2019,” the statement said.

“As Great Britain is our biggest export market, these 14 routes fed directly into business hubs throughout the UK, including many cities within the Northern Powerhouse.

“To that end we’re calling on the chancellor to scrap domestic APD in his budget statement tomorrow.

“This will kick start regional air connectivity in Belfast, whilst assisting airports such as Belfast City as they pursue new airlines to fill these routes in a difficult environment.”

Flybe went into administration last week after a bid for more financial support failed.

A spokesman for Belfast City Airport said the airport is continuing its negotiations with a number of airlines in an effort to fill the routes vacated by Flybe.

“We understand this is a difficult time for all employees at the airport, but we hope to have positive news in the coming weeks,” he said.

Flybe was responsible for around 80% of the airport’s flights.

Scottish airline Loganair has already taken on two former Flybe routes from Belfast City Airport to Aberdeen and Inverness.

The airline announced plans to take up 16 routes across the UK in a move that will add 400 new flights each week.

Eastern Airways has also announced a new six times a week service to Teesside International Airport.

The airline is a former franchise partner of Flybe but will now operate independently.

More than a hundred Flybe employees gathered at Belfast City Hall on Monday night to plead with councillors to help save their jobs.