Simon Calder gives verdict on Budget 2024 air passenger duty and reveals how to avoid it

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The chancellor has introduced one other enhance in air passenger duty (APD). This is the tax that passengers aged 16 and over should pay when flying from most UK airports.

For the tax 12 months 2025-26, APD will rise by predicted inflation for these within the most cost-effective seats – however by greater than that in something apart from primary economic system.

Air passenger duty is seen as an ideal tax by politicians. It is tough to avoid and straightforward to gather, as a result of airways do all of the work and ship the Treasury a cheque.

APD is exclusive to the UK, and a subject of a lot controversy:

The debate is ready to intensify, together with an rising variety of travellers avoiding APD via quite a lot of means.

These are the important thing questions and solutions.

A quick historical past of air passenger duty

The man accountable for APD was the final Conservative chancellor of the twentieth century, Kenneth Clarke. He instructed me: “Aviation was in an unusual position in that it’s the only form of transport where no one was paying any tax on the fuel that it uses.

“For years and years governments have regarded it as totally normal to impose tax on petrol, diesel fuel and everything used by land and sea. For historic reasons nobody was placing any tax on air fares.

“For me that was an anomaly, not least because people who use aviation tend to be slightly more prosperous than those who use other forms of transport.”

As worldwide aviation agreements typically rule out a tax on jet kerosene, Mr Clarke as a substitute imposed air passenger duty of £5 on every European flight, and £10 on long-haul companies. It utilized to all passengers above one 12 months of age beginning a journey at a UK airport, and took impact in 1994 – only a 12 months earlier than easyJet began flying.

What has occurred since?

Mostly, it has elevated – partly as a result of It will be introduced as a “green” initiative, dampening demand for aviation. And most of the individuals who pay it are international guests and don’t vote within the UK.

The subsequent chancellor, Gordon Brown, doubled the tax for business- and first-class seats. (One weird loophole, since closed, meant that passengers on the world’s most costly plane, Concorde, paid the identical as funds airline travellers to Morocco.)

Since 2016, APD not applies to beneath 16s travelling in primary economic system – however it is payable for greater courses.

In 2023, Rishi Sunak halved air passenger duty on home flights, encouraging a transfer from rail, sea and street to air for journeys throughout the UK. But within the 2024 spring Budget, Jeremy Hunt mentioned it would rise.

How is air passenger duty calculated?

The charge relies upon on two components: the traveller’s last ticketed vacation spot and the category of journey.

The “final ticketed destination” is vital. If you’re travelling on a “through ticket,” eg. Manchester-Amsterdam-Hong Kong or Birmingham-Frankfurt-Mumbai, the long-haul charge applies (until you’re spending over 24 hours on the transit level).

For the category of journey: in something however primary economic system, a better charge is payable – and all passengers aged two or over should pay it.

Passengers on non-public jets pay an unlimited quantity extra.

In phrases of locations, there are 4 totally different classes: UK home flights, plus three courses for worldwide journey.

What are the charges?

From 1 April 2024, they’re as follows:

For non-public jets, the tax is between £78 and £607 per particular person.

How does the tax burden work out for a household?

For a household of 4 (with youngsters between two and 15), the entire APD is as follows:

Listen to Simon Calder’s podcast on air passenger duty

How can I avoid APD?

These are a number of the tax-avoiding choices:

1. Don’t fly.

2. Be beneath 16 and journey in primary economic system (or beneath two in enterprise class)

3. Fly into the UK on one airplane and out inside 24 hours on one other and have them each included in the identical ticket.

4. Be a pilot or member of cabin crew on duty.

5. Be repatriated after being refused admission to the UK.

6. Fly on a route from a UK airport that isn’t topic to air passenger duty.

I can’t handle 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 proper now, however how do I discover an APD-free flight?

Fly from the Scottish Highlands and Islands Region, which incorporates Orkney, Shetland, the Western Isles, Oban, Campbeltown and Inverness.

Remarkably, even if you’re fly from Inverness to London Heathrow and onwards to a long-haul vacation spot, the tax saving applies. Flying from Aberdeen to New York on British Airways in late November, for instance, prices £392 return – however from Inverness the fare is simply £316, saving one-fifth on the journey.

Long-haul flights from Belfast are additionally freed from tax.

To be kinder to the planet, you might journey terrestrially to a international airport: by sea (or overland from Northern Ireland) to Dublin; by sea to the Netherlands; or on a Eurostar prepare to Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam.

How can I scale back APD?

You might fly to Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin or another European airport and purchase a separate ticket from there. For transatlantic flights, there may be an additional advantage of travelling through the Irish capital: you full US arrival formalities whereas at Dublin airport.

But you’ll assume the chance of a misconnection, and moreover as a result of the UK is so aggressive for air fares, chances are you’ll not lower your expenses.

A wiser approach to do it is to construct in a stopover of 24 hours or extra on the connecting level. The airline ought to robotically cost you the decrease charge. In impact, since you’re saving £65, the chancellor is paying for a brief break for you.

Reykjavik and Istanbul are significantly good for North America and Asia/Africa respectively.

What if I fly in economic system on the primary leg however enterprise for the remainder?

If you’re on a via ticket, the business-class charge applies to the entire journey.

If I ebook a flight and don’t present up for it, who will get the tax?

The airline. While carriers gather APD up to a 12 months upfront, the duty to go it on to the federal government crystallises solely when the passenger flies. In concept you’ll be able to declare it again, however in apply some airways and journey brokers impose charges which are designed to render makes an attempt pointless – with a dealing with price the identical or greater than the tax refund.