Flybe - Myndighetene vurderer å senke passasjeravgiften for å redde selskapet - BBC

Flybe: UK air passenger duty cut considered to save airline

• 22 minutes ago

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Image caption Flybe says air passenger duty unfairly burdens its domestic customers

The government is to consider cutting air passenger duty on all domestic flights as part of a plan to save regional airline Flybe from collapse.

Chancellor Sajid Javid is to meet later with the business and transport departments to discuss lowering the levy, the BBC's business editor says.
The change would allow Flybe to defer a tax bill, implement a rescue plan, and secure more than 2,000 jobs.
Flybe's network includes more than half of UK domestic flights outside London.
Tim Jeans, chairman of Cornwall Airport, said Flybe is "very important not just to our airport but to regions, to nations and to island communities across the UK".

He added: "They provide lifeline services to destinations across the rest of the UK that simply are not replicated by either other airlines or convenient and affordable train services."
Regular Flybe passengers have expressed their concern, with many describing its routes as "vital".
Improving connectivity outside of London was a key Conservative manifesto pledge and at least one of Flybe's routes, between Newquay and London, is subsidised by the government.
Sky News reported that the possible deal over air passenger duty could see Flybe defer a payment of more than £100m for three years.
By applying the move to the whole industry, the government would avoid breaching EU state aid rules.
It would potentially give the Exeter-based company time to set up a turnaround plan, financed by a consortium led by Virgin Atlantic which rescued the airline a year ago.

• Flybe boss 'focused' on turning airline around
• 'Flybe's collapse would be a disaster'

Air passenger duty (APD) is charged on all passenger flights from UK airports, excluding Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands and Islands region.
The amount depends on the destination and class of travel. Under current rules, passengers on domestic flights pay £13 in APD for a single journey, with higher rates for longer flights and premium cabins.
Flybe is a long-time critic of air passenger duty which it said disproportionately burdens its domestic customers because they have to pay it each time they take off from a UK airport.
Changes to air passenger duty could reduce the billions of pounds the charge generates for the government, which is expected to reach £3.7bn this financial year, according to Office for Budget Responsibility.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson made improving transport links in the UK's regions a central plank of the Conservative Party manifesto.