Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has reiterated the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) promise to scrap Air Passenger Duty (APD) while speaking at the British Air Transport Association’s annual dinner in London.

The coalition government in Westminster has recently published plans to devolve the APD to the Scottish government after the General Election in May.

Mr Salmond described the APD as “punitive” and “a millstone around the neck of this industry and of the Scottish economy”.

He argued that abolishing the tax would help to support the 336,000 jobs (which is 13 per cent of the country’s total) in Scotland that are supported by trade with the EU. EU countries make up 50 per cent of Scotland’s export market. Mr Salmond said that the change would help create more jobs and prosperity throughout the country.

In 2013, accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCooper published a report on the economic benefits of ending APD, which Mr Salmond claims Westminster has failed to refute.