Air passenger duty blamed as Easyjet switches UK planes to Continent.THE Government's air passenger duty (APD APD atrial premature depolarization (see atrial premature complex, under complex ); pamidronate. ) tax is partly to blame for the closure of Easyjet's East Midlands airport East Midlands Airport[1] (IATA: EMA, ICAO: EGNX) is an airport in the East Midlands of England, near Castle Donington in Leicestershire. It lies between the cities of Derby, Leicester and Nottingham, all within a 30 mile radius of the airfield. base, the airline said. Easyjet announced the shake-up which includes a 20% cut in routes from its home base of Luton and staff reductions at Belfast, Bristol, Newcastle and Stansted airports. Andy Harrison, Easyjet chief executive, said: "APD in its current form is particularly damaging to regional airports which do not benefit from transfer passengers for whom APD is not applicable." He said the East Midlands operation was "stagnant" and a 25% increase in airport costs at Luton had led to the decision to move aircraft to more profitable bases, mostly in continental Europe, which is not affected by APD taxes. Liverpool John Lennon airport Coordinates: Liverpool John Lennon Airport (IATA: LPL, ICAO: EGGP) is an airport serving the English city of Liverpool. , where Easyjet is currently the second-biggest operator behind Ryanair, escaped the cutbacks. CAPTION(S): Some of Easyjet's fleet will be switched from the UK to Europe, due to the impact of APD tax |
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