I would have thought that the main pre-occupation at the moment at Newcastle is if the Scottish Government get the powers to change the Air Passenger Duty (APD) not squabbling about the proposed fleet changes of Jet2 and Thomas Cook. If they do decide to reduce the APD and with the proposed upgrade of the A1 then you may well have a problem with passenger numbers.
Is APD
definitely going to be devolved?
There's a lot of assumption that the Scottish Executive would scrap APD, but it is by no means a forgone conclusion.
As for the A1 improvements, they are way into the future. Also, the dualling is only as far as Ellington. Ellington-Edinburgh remains single carriageway. Then there's the Edinburgh south bypass to negotiate if heading for Turnhouse.....
there is absolutely no evidence that APD affects the amount of flying people do - its a total red herring
It can be a deterent on discretionary spending - hence Osborne's reduction in the longhaul rates (band 3 and 4 to be same as 2) and rumoured scrapping of it for kids. best thing he can do is scrap it.
and how many people are going to drive to & back from EDI to save a few quid???
Petrol prices would wipe out the savings. Also there's the aggravation.
Have the laws of supply and demand changed recently?
Some of the comments here are a bit over the top, although a reduction of APD in Scotland would be an issue for NCL. People will certainly travel north if the price is right.
You're assuming that people check the APD element of the fare. They don't, it's the amount they have to shell out that matters. APD gets lost with the other "taxes, fees and charges and surcharges".
There's also no evidence that carriers will pass on any savings if there's a likelihood that could get away with
not doing so.
The issue is far from cut and dry.
The best thing Osborne can do is to scrap APD for the entire UK
before it can be devolved. Job done, sorted, case closed.