Cuts to air passenger duty for domestic flights from 1 April brought in by Rishi Sunak are set to encourage more pollution, insists the local Metro Mayor.

A study by consumer group Which? found that a flight from Bristol to Edinburgh emits a staggering 68% more in carbon emissions than the same journey by train and is 12% cheaper. 

From tomorrow, the cut to the air passenger duty for domestic flights will see airlines' tax bills halved from £13 to £6.50 per passenger, with airlines incentivised to introduce more domestic routes as a result. In contrast rail fares have recently risen by 5.9 per cent.

Metro Mayor Dan Norris said: "The government needlessly slashed Air Passenger Duty on domestic flights in the middle of a climate emergency. These are flights where there is a very obvious greener and cleaner alternative. We urgently need to encourage more people to use trains instead."