New Belfast City Airport Chief Calls 50% APD Reduction “Half-Way House”

Belfast City Airport Chief Executive Matthew Hall has called the 50% reduction in domestic APD "a half-way house in terms of solving a problem which has placed the aviation sector in Northern Ireland at a competitive disadvantage"

27 October 2021

Matthew Hall, Chief Executive of George Best Belfast City Airport said: “For many years, the airport has been lobbying Government for the abolishment of Airport Passenger Duty.

“A 50% reduction in APD is a half-way house in terms of solving a problem which has placed the aviation sector in Northern Ireland at a competitive disadvantage with other regions in attracting new airlines and routes.

“Today’s announcement by the Chancellor will not take effect until April 2023 and does little in the short term to alleviate a sector still decimated by Covid.”

“The importance of air connectivity as an economic driver for the region cannot be underestimated.”