Air Departure Tax Highlands and Islands Exemption: island communities impact assessment

Step Three – Consultation

Who do you need to consult with?

The Scottish Government consulted on this measure for eight weeks, from 29 January to 26 March 2026, closing shortly prior to the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament prior to the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.

Views and evidence were sought from Highlands and Islands stakeholders.

How will you carry out your consultation and in what timescales?

The Scottish Government ran a public consultation ‘Delivering Scotland's Air Departure Tax’ seeking views and evidence on the proposed ADT Highlands and Islands exemption as well as broader ADT policy. The consultation ran for eight weeks, from 29 January to 26 March 2026, closing shortly prior to the dissolution of the Scottish Parliament prior to the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.

What questions will you ask when considering how to address island realities?

The following questions were asked in relation to the exemption in the consultation:

A1 - Do you agree that the carriage of passengers from airports in the Highlands and Islands to airports in Scotland and the rest of the UK should be exempt from ADT?

A2 - Do you agree that the carriage of passengers to airports in the Highlands and Islands from all Scottish airports should be exempt from ADT?

A3 - Do you agree that direct and connecting international flights from airports in the Highlands and Island should not be exempt from ADT?

A4 - How could different segments of the aviation market respond to the proposed Highlands and Islands exemption?

A5 - What impact could the proposed Highlands and Islands exemption have on:

• customer demand
• route viability
• regional economic development
• any other factors

A6 - Do you agree that the carriage of passengers on private jets should not be included within the scope of the exemption?

A7 - Will air carriers face any operational or administrative challenges in applying the proposed Highlands and Islands exemption?

D1 - Do you have any information which could inform any final BRIA (Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment) relating to the revised Highlands and Islands exemption?

D6 - Are you aware of any examples of how the proposals in this consultation might impact, positively or negatively, on island communities in a way that is different from the impact on mainland or other areas?

D7 - Are you aware of any examples of how the proposals in this consultation might impact, either positively or negatively, on rural communities on mainland Scotland?

What information has already been gathered through consultations and what concerns have been raised previously by island communities?

Given that the measure applies to the carriage of passengers on certain flights to and from Highlands and Islands airports, island community stakeholders and Highland community stakeholders have been grouped together in consultation analysis.

Ten Highlands and Islands organisations and individuals responded ‘strongly disagree’ to the question ‘Do you agree that direct and connecting international flights from airports in the Highlands and Islands should not be exempt from ADT?’/ Two Highlands and Islands organisations and one individual responded either ‘mostly’ or ‘strongly agree’.

Highlands and Islands respondents who strongly disagreed with the removal of flights to international airports from the scope of the exemption cited serious concerns about negative impacts on international connectivity and possible loss of economically significant routes.

ZetTrans responded, ‘mostly agree’ and explained that its membership “understands and accepts the subsidy-control and competition rationale for excluding international flights.” ZetTrans also called for continuous monitoring of economic and connectivity impacts and for a “future review mechanism to assess whether tightly defined international exemptions could be justified where clear connectivity or economic development benefits are demonstrated and subsidy-control compliant”.

The individual that responded ‘mostly agree’ wrote that “once [Highlands and Islands residents] have got to a Scottish airport that offers international flights they are being treated as fairly as others in Scotland.” The organisation that responded ‘strongly agree’ did not explain its choice.

Is your consultation robust and meaningful and sufficient to comply with the Section 7 duty?

Yes.