The Chancellor has announced that Carlisle airport will not be included in the list of eight to be granted freeport status by the UK Government.
Carlisle Lake District Airport and Carlisle City Council had been calling on businesses and communities across Cumbria and the Lake District to get behind the airport’s freeport campaign.
Freeports are designated by Government and are areas where normal tax and customs rules do not apply.
These can be airports as well as maritime ports.
Companies operating within freeports can benefit from deferring the payment of taxes until their products are moved elsewhere, or can avoid taxes altogether if they bring in goods to store or manufacture on site before exporting them again.
The airport, owned by Esken – formerly Stobart Group – and local authority made the announcement as the UK government unveiled a consultation to inform Boris Johnson’s administration around the policy.
Rishi Sunak announced in the Budget today that freeports will be created at East Midlands Airport, Felixstowe and Harwich, the Humber region, the Liverpool City Region, Plymouth, Solent, Thames and Teesside.
