The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Why Britain must rein in its traveller taxes
A rise in Air Passenger Duty means it could soon cost a family of four up to £808 just to leave the country, says Nick Trend
With a subtle sleight of hand, the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has quietly introduced a new tax hit on travellers in his Budget. Rates of Air Passenger Duty (APD) for 2025-26 will rise in line with inflation (rounded to the nearest pound) for those travelling in economy class, while passengers choosing to fly in premium cabins and on private jets are set to see an even bigger increase.
The exact figures have yet to be confirmed, but what Mr Hunt did not mention was the fact that rates were already slated to rise from next month anyway. So, how will these tax increases affect your holiday plans? Our table (bottom) summarises the latest rises while, in the Q&A below, we explain how these changes will all work in practice.
I have never had a bill for this – when exactly do I have to pay?
Air Passenger Duty is added to the cost of nearly every airline ticket involving a flight departing from a UK airport. However, you probably won’t even notice it because airlines are legally obliged to include it automatically in all their quoted prices.
Nevertheless, APD can make a huge difference to the cost of a flight. I was looking at a Ryanair one-way fare to Marseille the other day – one of those real bargains that are sold at £19.99. Two-thirds (£13) of that fare goes to the Government in tax. Meanwhile, the minimum levy on a long-haul flight of over 5,500 miles is £91.
How does our system compare with other countries?
Britain is a global leader when it comes to taxing travellers. With 12 different rates, each depending on which class you sit in and how far you travel, not only do we have probably the most complex system in the world, but we also have by far the highest levels of duty. The £87 (rising to £88 next month) that we are charged for flights between 2,000 and 5,500 miles (see table) is streets ahead of the highest rivals I have been able to find: Fiji at FJ$140 (£49) for departing passengers; Germany at €12.48 (£10.66) to €56.91 (£48.59); and Australia at AUS$60 (£31).
How did we end up like this? Through cognitive overload. It all started so simply. In 1993, the then Chancellor Kenneth Clarke said he thought travellers were under-taxed. With no VAT on airfares and with aviation fuel being tax-free, air travellers could, he felt, afford to pay more. So he hit us with a £5 fee for flights within Europe and £10 elsewhere. In 1997 those rates doubled. Since then, myriad increases have been masked with myriad complications.
New rates have been introduced for different classes of travel and different “bands” established depending on the length of your flight. From 2009, there were four different zones and separate rates for business and economy class. Then, in 2013, four more rates for private-jet users were brought in, with a top fee of £388. In 2015, the number of distance zones was reduced to two – and then, last year, returned to three.
Is it all bad news?
Well, over time there have been a few reasons to celebrate. In May 2015, children under 12 were exempted from APD and from March 2016, children under 16 travelling in economy class were also excluded. In 2023, there was even a cut from £13 to £6.50 for all travellers in economy class on domestic flights. And economy-class rates for passengers travelling short-haul (less than 2,000 miles) have been fixed at £13 since 2012.
Can’t something be done?
We are doing our best. At Telegraph Travel, we have been campaigning against this world-beating tax since 2009. But the sound of all that travellers’ gold pouring into the Treasury’s coffers seems to have drowned out our pleas.