Scottish Government plans to cut air passenger duty (APD) should be scrapped, environmental campaigners say.

The Stop Climate Chaos Scotland (SCCS) coalition warned the move would be inconsistent with attempts to reduce emissions and meet climate change targets.

Scottish Labour and the Scottish Liberal Democrats also called for the government to make a U-turn on the proposals as a public consultation on the issue draws to a close.

The tax is being devolved to the Scottish Parliament through the new Scotland Bill, with the consultation on its replacement due to close on Friday.

The Scottish Government said it plans to reduce the duty by 50% from April 2018 before abolishing it entirely "when public finances allow".

SCCS chairman Tom Ballantine said air travel was responsible for 13% of Scottish transport emissions despite half of the population not flying in any given year.

He said: "It's the highest emitter of carbon dioxide per passenger kilometre and the only sector where emissions have risen significantly over the past 20 years.

"The Scottish Government's own analysis shows that its plan to cut APD by 50% could result in up to an extra 60,000 tonnes of greenhouse gases reaching the atmosphere each year.

"That's why we're calling on the Scottish Government to rethink its plans and put forward alternative proposals that use new APD powers to help to reduce Scotland's climate change emissions."

In its response to the consultation, SCCS said the £300m raised each year from APD at its current level was the equivalent of employing 11,507 nurses or installing solar panels on 60,000 homes.

Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said: "The SNP seem wedded to the idea of cutting air passenger duty but at a time when our public services are facing hundreds of millions of pounds of cuts it is simply the wrong priority."

Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Willie Rennie said: "The SNP have forced through swingeing cuts to councils that are hammering local education budgets.

"Instead of supporting services, their priority is cutting taxes for airlines based on research carried out by the aviation sector."

Edinburgh Airport's chief executive Gordon Dewar has been an outspoken supporter of APD, and on Thursday he called on the government to seize the "golden opportunity".

Speaking to STV News on Thursday, he said: "A one move 50% reduction will bring an extra 18 million passengers to Scotland between the cut being confirmed and the end of 2021 - and it will generate 10,000 new jobs in tourism and add more than £300 million Gross Value Added per year to the Scottish economy and generate a range of tax revenues that will comfortably exceed the cost of the reduction."

A government spokeswoman said: "UK APD is one of the most expensive taxes of its kind in the world.

"It continues to act as a barrier to Scotland's ability to secure new direct international routes and maintain existing ones - reducing it will help attract more direct flights, improving our global connections, boosting the economy and creating jobs.

"The Scottish Government is committed to tackling climate change, and Scotland is already three quarters of the way towards achieving our target of a 42% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020."