Aberdeen City Council will take its fight to secure local authority control over Air Departure Tax (ADT) to the Scottish Parliament.
Co-leader Douglas Lumsden is seeking to defy Nicola Sturgeon’s refusal to cut the levy and will ask Holyrood to heed his call.
The proposal is being examined by the council in the wake of the Scottish Government’s U-turn on its long-standing manifesto commitment to cut and then abolish ADT.
The abandonment of the policy, which would have resulted in a £150 million airline industry tax break, was met with dismay by local business leaders and Aberdeen International Airport.
High taxes have been listed as factors in Aberdeen losing flights to Gatwick and London City.
The Conservative councillor said he would be asking the Scottish Government for the powers to be passed on to the council.
“We are looking at the procedure on how that could take place,” Councillor Lumsden said.
“We are going to be asking the Scottish Government to have the power to ourselves so we can make the choices that we need to make locally to grow the economy.”
Replacing Air Passenger Duty (APD) with a devolved ADT had been a SNP manifesto commitment on the basis it would allow Scottish ministers to halve, then abolish the levy.
Before the U-turn, the SNP had argued that cutting ADT would improve transport links and stimulate business.
But earlier this month Finance Secretary Derek Mackay said the policy was no longer “compatible” with the Scottish Government’s ambitious climate change target for zero emissions by 2045.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We have not received an approach from Aberdeen City Council on the devolution of APD.
“There is a global climate emergency and all governments, businesses and communities need to increase their action to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.”
Shane Taylor of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce said: “The business community in the North-east remains bitterly disappointed with the Scottish Government’s decision to abandon promised reductions in Air Departure Tax.
“The Chamber is supportive of exploring where the devolution of local powers could bring a competitive advantage to our City Region.”
And Steve Szalay, managing director at Aberdeen International Airport, added: “We would welcome any move that would reduce the burden of Air Passenger Duty which has a detrimental impact on our ability to secure new routes and maintain vital existing services.”
