SOARING air taxes are killing off chances of restoring a direct Merseyside air link with London, MPs were told yesterday.

Peel Airports Group, the owner of John Lennon Airport, blamed soaring air passenger duty (APD) for the loss of the previous link – while claiming rail travel enjoyed "unfair" subsidies.

Peel Airports deputy chief executive Neil Pakey said Merseyside air passengers were the victims of the sky-high taxes.

In evidence to an inquiry by the transport select committee, Peel said VLM's decision to quit flying from JLA to London City Airport, in 2007, was a

direct consequence of a doubling of APD.

It protested that the tax burden would rise again when the air industry was included in the EU's emissions trading scheme from 2012, to tackle global warming.

And – on the same day that the Government took over the East Coast rail line from troubled operator National Express – it cried foul over subsidies handed to the rail industry.

That claim will outrage environmental groups, who have long complained that it is the airlines that enjoy a hidden subsidy, because they pay no tax on aviation fuel.

But Peel told the MPs that APD was scheduled to rise by up to 113% in November this year – slapping around £40 on the price of a long-haul flight.

Meanwhile, passenger numbers had already fallen by 2.5% at JLA last year, with even bigger declines at other regional airports. Mr Pakey said: "Airlines are cancelling routes, whether on US routes, or domestic, because they have the ability to up sticks and go somewhere else.

"The big reason is taxation and what we do next will be very important.

“Will it make things worse, in terms of our competitiveness?"