"Air tax idea to fund new travel links"
Belfast
Telegraph - 8th March 2004
MONEY raised at Belfast City Airport as a result of air taxes should be earmarked
for upgrading road and rail links to the terminal, it was suggested today.
The proposal came from Jim French, managing director of flybe, the largest regional airline using City Airport.
He said: "Air passenger duty, which goes on every ticket, should be used to benefit the travelling public. At City Airport there is a need to improve road access and rail links.
"Rather than being subsumed into Treasury coffers, such revenue could be earmarked to pay for a railway station, for example."
The Belfast-Bangor railway line runs parallel to the airport on the opposite side of the Sydenham bypass.
Provision for a railway station with a linking walkway was made in phase two of the airport's expansion plan, but so far only phase one of the development has been implemented.
Translink said any ideas to fund public transport links to and from airports were to be welcomed.
A spokesman said: "As it is, Translink provides the City Airlink bus service with a 30-minute frequency, calling at the main bus and rail stations in Belfast and the Odyssey Centre.
"We also operate an on-demand shuttle bus in conjunction with the airport from Sydenham rail halt to the terminal."
A spokesman for the airport said: "Located as it is just two miles from the centre of Belfast, City Airport is easily accessible to our customers. However, any improvements to the established transport links would be welcome."
Air passenger duty results in an additional charge of £5 a time for passengers on economy class domestic airline trips, and £10 for business class.
The tax was introduced in 1992 and applies to all parts of the UK, apart from the Highlands and Islands region of Scotland.
At present, it raises revenue of £800m every year for the Government.
But a Treasury spokesman said it was not policy to ringfence APD and divert it towards specific projects.
He said: "The money from APD goes towards a range of public projects including infrastructure projects, but it is not tied to specific projects."
Flybe is this month expanding
its operations from Belfast by adding Edinburgh, Glasgow and Exeter to its
list of destinations.
 |