Isle of Man: No change to Manx air passenger duty despite UK cut

Air passenger duty will remain at £13 per adult for Isle of Man flights

The Manx government has ruled out following the UK in slashing air passenger duty on domestic flights by 2023, the treasury minister has said.

Isle of Man trips will not be included in the 50% tax cut for travel between England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, announced in the UK budget.

David Ashford told the House of Keys it would cost £2 million to follow suit.

He said introducing a similar cut on the island was unlikely to lead to an increase in visitors.

Air passenger duty will remain at £13 per adult for the Isle of Man and other Crown Dependencies while in the UK the tax will reduce to £6.50.

'Out of sync'

Responding to questions in the House of Keys Mr Ashford said the UK chancellor's announcement was "quite clear" in that the change "does not apply to us", and the Isle of Man would be "out of sync" if it made the cut.

People must not make the assumption that reducing the tax will affect ticket prices, he added.

"If I was a betting man I would say that would be absorbed into the airline's operating costs, rather than passed on to the consumer," he said.

The enterprise minister said although the cut may sound beneficial in attracting tourists it was unlikely to make a material difference to travel decisions.

Alex Allinson confirmed his department was reviewing its air travel policies, including the performance of certain routes, with a report due for the Council of Ministers this November.