Badly written but you knew what he meant, part of a country that exists on a different island from the central government and is consequently suffering from a tax on services that does not exist in an adjoining foreign country?
You are underestimating the need to cut APD in my opinion. But I agree about wider economic reform. Business is driven by competition so if it were scrapped it isn't just routes that would improve, it would be take up of existing services including freight etc. that will come from business startup or expansion. The revenue from the actual air tax lost would be more than replaced by business taxes and income taxes from new jobs created. It might not be simple or short term but exponentially more beneficial in terms of the whole population.