UK chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne has issued a discussion paper on possible changes to Air Passenger Duty as part of his latest budget.

Although not committing the government to any changes in the unpopular levy, the paper will consider options such as devolving air passenger duty within the English regions.

This come as APD devolution to Northern Ireland, Scotland and possibly Wales takes place, with an SNP proposal to reduce it by 50 per cent from Scottish airports.

ABTA head of public affairs Stephen D’Alfons said: “ABTA believes that a full economic review of the impact of APD carried out by Treasury would be the fairest and most comprehensive way for the government to fully assess the impact which air passenger duty is having on the UK’s competitiveness, and on UK passengers.

“We welcome that the discussion paper announced at the budget – which seeks to lessen the impact of devolved APD at regional airports in England – clearly acknowledges the economic damage caused by APD.

“We will engage fully in the discussion paper putting forward the views of members.

“However, we will continue to urge the Government to conduct a full impact assessment of APD, leading to significant reductions.

“That is the only way to make sure the whole of the UK has a fair and competitive rate of APD.”

Air Passenger Duty for children under the age of 12 was abolished earlier in the year, with the threshold set to be moved up to 16-years-of-age in spring 2016.