Call to axe air tax as airline traffic slumps

RYANAIR yesterday renewed calls for ministers to scrap the £10 air travel tax it says has hit traffic to and from the UK.

Lesley Kane, head of sales, said passenger traffic had collapsed across Britain, in contrast with the company's strong growth in the rest of Europe in February.

Speaking in Inverness, she said: "This tax is defeating its purpose and the sooner it is repealed, the sooner Britain's airports and tourism industry can replace traffic collapse with tourism growth, making Britain a competitive tourism destination once again."

She said Ryanair carried 40,000 passengers to and from Inverness last year, a drop of nearly 50 per cent on the previous year.

"Ryanair has repeatedly confirmed that the scrapping of the tourist tax and a lower-cost deal at Inverness Airport would see the reversal of the recent Ryanair decline in passenger numbers," she said.