Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of potential effect of the change in (a) passenger numbers and (b) carbon emitted following the abolishment of Air Passenger Duty for domestic flights.

At Budget, the Government announced that, from April 2023, it will introduce a new reduced domestic band of Air Passenger Duty (APD) set at £6.50 for economy passengers. The new domestic band will cover flights between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, in order to support connectivity across the UK. As a result, around 9 million passengers will pay less APD in 2023/24.

In addition, the Government will introduce a new ultra long-haul band, which will ensure that those who fly furthest, and have the greatest environmental impact, will pay the most.

Aviation accounts for around 8% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions. International aviation is responsible for the vast majority of this contribution and accounted for 37 MtCO2e in 2019, whereas domestic aviation was responsible for 1.5 MtCO2e – equivalent to less than 1% of the UK’s total emissions in 2019.

Additionally, domestic aviation is included within the scope of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme, which sets a cap on the total amount of greenhouse gases that can be emitted by sectors covered by the scheme.