In a submission to the Scottish Government, the firm said abolishing the levy would encourage an influx of foreign visitors to Scotland as soon as it was safe for them to come.

Writing in today’s Herald, director Andrew Morrison argued that the move would make use of a tax power already held in Holyrood, and would allow a sector badly hit by COVID-19 the chance to recover.

The Scottish Government recently requested the views of businesses and interest groups on how to use devolved powers to trigger a post-pandemic recovery.

The scrapping of air departure tax (ADT) was Scottish Government policy, and backed in principle by the largest opposition party. However, concerns over the climate emergency declared by the Scottish Government last year led to the policy being dropped.

In today’s article, Mr Morrison argues air travel could be encouraged while the government works in other areas to offset the environmental impact.

He said: “Cutting the levy on incoming flights would provide an immediate boost for the hospitality and tourism sectors who have been worst hit by this crisis.

“Making it cheaper to fly to Scotland not only means more people will come here, but they will have additional cash in their pockets to spend during their stay. This would make bold use of one of the Scottish Parliament’s most recently-devolved powers.

“Our message to ministers would be to embrace air travel for what it is, then go above and beyond in other areas to offset the environmental concerns. Scotland’s economy will simply not recover with the pounds and pence of holiday-makers.”