The big issue the airport faces is APD - Air Passenger Duty. APD is levied on every aircraft flying from a UK airport. It means if you make an internal return flight you have to pay twice. The cost is £12 per flight within Europe and £60 per flight to the US.

JLA has lobbied for many years for APD to be cut or scrapped altogether, arguing it puts UK airports at a competitive disadvantage to those in Europe where the tax is not levied.

A report by the Airport Operators' Association (AOA) published late last year claimed APD could cost the economy up to £30bn a year by 2030, cost £15bn in contributions to the Exchequer and lead to 700,000 fewer jobs.

The argument in favour of APD is an environmental one. The evangelical zeal to cut CO2 emissions has put aviation in the firing line despite that fact that its overall contribution to such emissions is miniscule.

Europe has seen an explosion in air travel over the past decade as travellers embraced the low-cost fares pioneered by companies like Easyjet and Ryanair. For the first time ordinary people could hop onto a plane for a weekend in Paris or Rome without being held to ransom by the likes of British Airways and other national flag carriers.

It's a phenomenon that has opened up travel for millions. Yet the environmental zealots, to whom both Labour and Conservative politicians kneel before, won't be happy until we've all been priced out of the skies.

So APD is imposed and is pushed up to make flying that little less attrractive. However, there is a flaw in the method. Rather than cutting the number of flights, airlines will simply move their aircraft to countries with kinder tax regimes.

Liverpool John Lennon Airport could be one of the major drivers of the Liverpool city region economy for decades to come. Amazingly, at the moment, it is achieving this with one arm tied behind its back.