All flights departing Northern Irish airports and direct flights from the province to mainland UK should be exempt from Air Passenger Duty (APD), according to a committee of MPs.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC) have called for air tax bands A and B to be merged with the application of a zero duty rate to help boost the Northern Irish economy. NIAC chair Laurence Robertson said: "If the current tax rate is not addressed as a matter of urgency, the implications for Northern Ireland are deeply troubling.

"Witnesses to our inquiry highlighted serious concerns, including Northern Ireland's geographic location and reliance on air travel, the fact of sharing a land border with a sovereign state which levies air duty at an extremely low rate-which will soon be abolished altogether-and the need for inward investment from business and tourism."