Chair welcomes changes to APD
6 November 2012
Responding to the announcement that Air Passenger Duty (APD) is to be reduced to zero on long haul flights departing from Northern Ireland from January 2013, Laurence Robertson MP, Chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee, has issued the following statement:
"This is very good news and is exactly in line with recommendations made by the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in July 2011 with regard to long-haul flights. It is important that we take every possible step to help rebalance the economy in Northern Ireland and I congratulate the Assembly on this initiative. Obviously, many people will still be paying APD on short haul flights, and the Committee recognises that this is a problem. It is something we are considering during our present enquiry into aviation policy and will report on in the near future."