The leaders of four leading business membership organisations in Northern Ireland have called on the Chancellor to scrap domestic Air Passenger Duty (APD) in thebudget statement to rescue regional air connectivity, following the collapse of Flybe.
The Business 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 leaders of the business bodies said: “The collapse of Flybe has 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.
“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.”
The leaders of the organisations that form the Business Alliance include: Adrian Doran ,Chair, CBI NI; Stephen Kingon, Chair, Centre for Competitiveness; Gordon Milligan, Chair, IoD NI; Ian Henry, President, NI Chamber; Angela McGowan, Director, CBI NI; Ann McGregor, Chief Executive, NI Chamber; Bob Barbour, CEO, Centre for Competitiveness and Kirsty McManus, Director, IoD NI.
