Air passenger responsibility: Holidaymakers could be owed around £44.7m in APD refunds

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Holidaymakers throughout the UK could be owed refunds in air passenger responsibility (APD) because the little-known payment is commonly not reclaimed, a brand new research has discovered.

Brits who cancelled a reserving, missed a flight or had their flight cancelled, could be entitled to an APD refund, but in the chaos of switching to a different flight or replanning a journey, folks could miss that they’ll declare a reimbursement.

Research by monetary comparability web site Go.Compare discovered that whereas one in 10 Brits could be eligible for a refund, greater than three-quarters of those flyers are unaware they’ll declare it.

APD is a tax on airways and plane operators routinely charged for passengers flying from a United Kingdom or Isle of Man airport to each home and worldwide locations.

It is a tax on airways, not on passengers, however most airways move this price on by means of ticket costs, a choice that’s as much as the airline.

However, the tax is barely payable as soon as the traveller has flown, which means that somebody who purchased a airplane ticket, however didn’t find yourself travelling can probably declare this tax, even when the ticket is non-refundable, Go.Compare says.

Those who can declare an APD refund are normally those that missed a flight and purchased a brand new ticket for an additional one, cancelled a reserving for a non-refundable airplane ticket or if their flight was cancelled and weren’t given a brand new flight.

By assessing a YouGov survey of two,000 UK residents and learning knowledge from HMRC and the Civil Aviation Authority, they estimate that around 3.6 million UK grownup flyers could be owed this refund with out even realising it.

The researchers imagine that UK holidaymakers could be owed an estimated £44.7m in whole in air passenger responsibility refunds.

The comparability web site says that some eligible travellers could be owed from £7 as much as a staggering £244, relying on their vacation spot and what class they have been as a result of fly in.

However, airways have their very own insurance policies and methods to go about claiming a refund which will differ from each other.

Ryanair says passengers are solely entitled to a authorities tax refund if they’ve paid such taxes on the time of their reserving, and have an on-line kind to use for a refund inside one month of the date of departure if they didn’t journey.

EasyJet says that if clients don’t take their flight they’ll declare a full APD refund by contacting the airline’s buyer providers workforce, which is ready out in their phrases and circumstances, and they don’t cost for this.

Meanwhile, Jet2 states that passengers can apply in writing to them for an APD refund if a flight has been missed.

Wizz Air don’t cost any APD to passengers, so there are not any refunds accessible

“Wizz Air offers a single, simple, and transparent price to customers and no additional taxes are charged on top of any tickets, including any air passenger responsibility (APD) taxes” a Wizz Air spokesperson explains.

“Similarly to other operational costs, for example fuel costs, we pay all taxes when they are due and do not transfer these taxes to the passengers individually.

“In 2016, Wizz Air previously provided refunds for APD taxes after the UK regulation on APD changed the same year; however, because Wizz Air does not charge any APD tax from passengers, it has removed the refund policy”

Rhys Jones, travel insurance expert at Go.Compare, says: “Very few travellers know what Air Passenger Duty is and understand how it works. This means millions could be entitled to some money from their airline without even realising it.

“Your eligibility for the refund and how much you can claim depends on the circumstances of your trip, so you will need to check if you’re entitled to anything first. Keep in mind that you’ll likely only be refunded if you didn’t travel, so if you were placed on another flight as a result of a cancellation, for instance, you probably won’t be eligible, since you still flew.

“But, if for example you missed your flight and had to buy another ticket for a later departure, you could claim back the tax on the original ticket, as you paid the APD twice but only flew once. Some airlines do impose a deadline and an admin fee to claim, which can mean it isn’t worthwhile for some trips, but not all of them do this, so it’s worth looking into for your journey.

“You won’t be able to claim for any knock-on expenses as a result of an incomplete journey here either, that’s what your travel insurance is for. But, it’s a great way to take the sting out of a disappointing day at the airport.”

For extra journey information and recommendation, hearken to Simon Calder’s podcast

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