The Finance Committee takes evidence on the budget from Finance Secretary Derek Mackay
Economy, jobs and fair work ministers are in the hot seats for portfolio questions followed by finance and the constitution ministers
The Scottish government lead a debate on the future of Jobcentre Plus in Scotland
SNP MSP Bill Kidd leads a member's debate on on the Jimmy Reid Foundation trident report
Garry Clark, Head of Policy and Research, Scottish Chambers of Commerce says it is equally important that business people are travelling out of the country to make alliances and doing business across the board.
He says it is as much about business people travelling abroad to do business.
Image source, ThinkstockJamaica may be an attractive destination for Scots with a reduction in APD
Tory MSP Murdo Fraser says one of the arguments against APD is that flights out of Scotland will be easier encouraging more Scots to holiday abroad.
Mr Fraser asks how cutting APD encourages more net holidays in Scotland.
Gareth Williams from the Scottish Chambers of Development and Industry says they are looking at international students and tourism.
Mr Williams says intrinsically there is the opportunity to bring in many more people than will leave on outward bound flights.
SNP MSP Ivan McKee says "it is a bit of an open hit, we're asking if you want a tax cut and you guys are saying yes please."
He says "to make it a bit harder," should it be a 50% tax cut across the board.
Garry Clark, Head of Policy and Research, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, says a straight 50% cut across the board would be the most straightforward way to do it but there are some legitimate concerns.
Mr McKee says there are concerns that the reduction would make it more appealing for tourists to travel out of the country to spend money elsewhere.
Image source, Edinburgh AirportEdinburgh Airport
Stephen Leckie from the Scottish Tourism Alliance says it is about use of stimulation to persuade the airlines to provide more routes and bring more visitors to Scotland.
Garry Clark from the Scottish Chambers of Commerce says York Aviation have done a number of studies on the impact of an APD reduction in Scotland.
Mr Clark says there has been a consistent pattern of the economic impact of a reduction on APD.
Gareth Williams from the Scottish Chambers of Development and Industry says the Edinburgh Airport report accords with other studies.
Tory MSP Liam Kerr says Aberdeen and the economic slow down has been mentioned.
Mr Kerr says analysis on Aberdeen airport shows travellers to be affluent and asks if tax reductions will have an impact on them.
Gareth Williams, Head of Policy, Scottish Chambers of Development and Industry says some of the routes at this airport may be reduced because of the slow in traffic and the tax reduction is one measure to help with this.
Mr Kerr asks if a £7 reduction in duty will drive passenger numbers back up.
Mr Williams says it sends a signal to the aviation industry that Scotland is a good place for aircraft to come.
Image source, bbcGareth Williams from the Scottish Chambers of Development
Garry Clark from the Scottish Chambers of Commerce says there has been an expansion of regional aiports thanks to the Air Route Development Fund.
Mr Coffey ask if there is any way of looking at the Irish experience and assume the beneficial affects on regional airports
Gareth Williams from the Scottish Chambers of Development and Industry says: "We would welcome some analysis building on what has been produced."
Mr Williams says the Scottish government should lead and commission that.
Stephen Leckie, Chair, Scottish Tourism Alliance
SNP MSP WIllie Coffey asks if regional airports in Scotland will benefit from the taxes being reduced and possibly abolished.
Stephen Leckie, Chair, Scottish Tourism Alliance says this is a well made point and the reduction in tax is "fundamental" to the success of regional airports and businesses connected to them.
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Gareth Williams, Head of Policy, Scottish Chambers of Development and Industry says the biggest percentage of long-haul business travellers coming through Edinburgh Airport are from the education sector.
Mr Williams says these include students and people travelling for conferences.
He says there is competition from other airports and cities for this business and therefore tax should be more competitive.
Image source, bbcStephen Leckie from the Scottish Tourism Alliance says the biggest hit from a reduction in APD would be Europe.
Mr Leckie says the long haul will take a long haule.
He says: "Are we ready for China yet? We are not it will take time."
Image source, bbcStephen Leckie from the Scottish Tourism Alliance
SNP MSP Ash Denham says Edinburgh Airport is competing against other cities like Copenhagen for new routes.
Ms Denham asks if there is any analysis of what visitors we could expect with a reduction of APD.
Stephen Leckie from the Scottish Tourism Alliance says there is only anecdotal evidence about European visitors.
Mr Leckies says there is a massive market from London to Edinburgh and Scotland.
Greens Co-convener Patrick Harvie asks how the background level of aviation growth was calculated.
Garry Clark, Head of Policy and Research, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, says he is not sure those calculations have been carried out but would welcome any analysis.
Mr Harvie asks if there wasn't any analysis of tax changes in Ireland.
Mr Clark says there was a response but it could not all be attributed to tax changes.
Gareth Williams, Head of Policy, Scottish Chambers of Development and Industry, says there has been analysis in Holland that tax has negatively impacted on the economy.
Image source, PAFor the written submissions to the committee from :
Image source, PATory MSP Liam Kerr says an actual cause and effect should be shown for removal of APD and the increase in flights.
Mr Kerr asks about the Irish experience, where APD has been scrapped completely.
Gareth Williams from the Scottish Chambers of Development and Industry says there was an increase in domestic and international flights there.
Image source, bbcGareth Williams from the Scottish Chambers of Developmen
Gareth Williams from the Scottish Chambers of Development and Industry agrees with Mr Clark on APD and says the evidence from other countries when these taxes are taken must be looked at.
The tax that we currently have is uncompetitive, says Mr Williams.
Image source, bbcGarry Clark from the Scottish Chambers of Commerce
Garry Clark from the Scottish Chambers of Commerce says " we have always been supporters of both the devolution and the reduction of APD."
Mr Clark says the SCC believe APD is a tax on connectivity.
Image source, VirginVirgin Trains has warned that about a third of Edinburgh to London rail journeys could be lost to air travel if Scotland abolishes air passenger duty.
The Scottish government wants to cut the tax by 50%, and later abolish it completely, as part of efforts to boost the economy.
Virgin Trains boss David Horne told MSPs that the move would see passengers switch from trains to planes.
But the head of Edinburgh Airport said the claim was not plausible.
The pair were speaking at a meeting of Holyrood's finance committee.
A bill has been introduced at Holyrood to establish the tax which will replace Air Passenger Duty (APD).
The Air Departure Tax (Scotland) Bill sets out how the new, devolved powers will be used but does not go into detail on rates.
Holyrood will take control of the air fare tax from April 2018.
The Scottish government said the bill would mean it could "progress plans" to deliver "in full" a 50% reduction by the end of the current parliament.
It added that the tax would be abolished entirely "when finances allow".
The Scottish Conservatives have backed the abolition of duty for long-haul flights - while the Greens oppose any overall tax break for aviation.
The bill sets out that Revenue Scotland will be responsible for the collection and management of the tax, after the existing APD regime no longer applies in Scotland.
The committee will now take evidence on the Air Departure Tax (Scotland) Bill at Stage 1 from:
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