The case for the Scottish Government’s proposal to half and then eliminate Air Passenger Duty with the stated goal of boosting tourism in Scotland is examined and found to be counter-productive.

This report forms a response to a request for opinion on the Scottish Government’s plan to cut Air Departure Tax (formerly Air Passenger Duty) by 50% starting in 2018 and to eliminate it entirely at an unspecified future date. There is significant evidence that the economic impacts of the cut will not be as great or as beneficial as has been claimed.

― Railways should be publicly run – Scotland’s rail system is currently structured in a complex manner, which mainly reflects the legacy of the Britain-wide privatisation experiment initiated by the Major Government’s 1993 Railways Act. For the past two decades, Scottish passenger services have been run by a succession of private and foreign state-owned train operating companies (TOCs), which in turn lease their rolling stock from privately-owned rolling stock operating companies (ROSCOs).