Up to 58% of UK air tickets is tax

UP to 58 per cent duty of the cost of air tickets on return domestic flights goes straight to the Treasury as tax , research has found.

Passengers are charged air passenger duty (APD) on each leg from a UK airport. This is £13 in economy class.

A study calculated the duty as a proportion of 18 fares booked on September 11 for travel on October 16 and 17.

EasyJet return flights for London Stansted to Glasgow and Edinburgh, each costing £ 5, were the highest at 58 per cent. Flybe from Southampton to Manchester was 5 per cent of £ 8, easyJet from Belfast to Edinburgh was 52 per cent of £50 and Flybe from Cardiff to Edinburgh was 6 per cent of £56.

Henk van Klaveren, of campaign group A Fair Tax On Flying, which carried out the research, said: ‘It’s a tax on trade and a tax on holidays. We are urging the Chancellor to decisively cut APD in the Budget by at least 50 per cent across all bands of travel.’