Chancellor Philip Hammond's annual budget as revealed on Tuesday includes some provisions that will affect the air travel industry in the UK:

• The APD on long-haul flights will increase in line with retail price inflation by 2 GBP for economy passengers and by 4 GBP for business class and first class passengers.
• HOWEVER: in an effort to boost tourism, APD in Northern Ireland will remain unaffected. Members of the NI tourism industry have long complained that higher APD and VAT rates put the country at a competitive disadvantage to the Republic.
• Beginning in summer 2019, passengers entering UK ports from the USA, Canada, New Zealand , Australia and Japan will be able to use e-passport gates, in order to speed up passenger traffic through busy airports. (Some airlines may have complained about long immigration wait times at Heathrow.)

I'm thinking (1) a little break for NI is better than none, and (2) provided no security issues develop, speeding up transit times through airports is surely desirable, especially in peak tourism season.