UK Air Passenger Duty to increase

[Kiwi Flyer]

But not something you could use for a planned meeting in the UK :evil: .

Only if the meeting is with someone else on the same flight also "flying" through.

 

[JohnK]

Anyone know what destinations are considered as departing on a long haul service from the UK? Over 3 hours? Over 5 hours? Outside Europe?

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

It used to be/currently is EU member countries plus Switzerland (maybe a couple of others) short haul, everything else longhaul. I think I have seen reference to a few more countries being added to the shorthaul list.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Current rule

UNITED NAME: AIR PASSENGER DUTY
KINGDOM CODE: GB
YO for departures from the Isle of Man
AMOUNT: Levied on all tickets/PTA’s for passengers departing from the UK airports (excluding the
Channel Islands, ACI, GCI, JER, IOM) on all international/domestic flights.
Note: The following airports are exempt from the APD tax:
Barra/Benbecula/Campbeltown/Inverness/Islay/Kirkwall/Stornoway/Sumbrugh/Tiree/Wic
Domestic Travel
GBP5.00 applicable for travel in the lowest class of service.
GBP10.00 standard rate.
Following EC countries
Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland,
Romania, Slovak Republic, Turkey, Switzerland (airports not already covered)Slovenia.
GBP5.00 applicable for travel in the lowest class of service.
GBP10.00 standard rate.
International Travel
GBP5.00 applicable for travel in the lowest class of service to EEA points.
GBP10.00 applicable for travel “not” in the lowest class of service to EEA points.
GBP20.00 applicable for travel in the lowest class of service worldwide except EEA
points.
GBP40.00 applicable for travel “not” in the lowest class of travel worldwide except EEA
points.
Isle Of Man (IOM) is not part of the UK but does apply an APD similar to that in the UK.
GBP10.00 from IOM to European Union Countries.
GBP20.00 from IOM to other destinations countries.
DEFINITIONS:
United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
EEA areas (EU European Union): Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France
(excluding overseas departments), Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,
The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, The United Kingdom. The following
EU member state dependent territories are also included, Azores, Balearic Islands,
Canary Islands, Channel Islands, Corsica, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Madeira, Isle of Man,
Sardinia and Sicily.
For UK Tax purposes, Basel (BSL) and Geneva (GVA) are considered to be EU member
state destinations.
EXEMPTIONS: Any non revenue passenger that is airline employees who are crew, escorts of a
passenger, engineering or security staff or employees involved in the hygienic
preparation, handling of food or drink. Duties must be carried out within 72 hours of the
flight landing. This exemption also includes those staff who commence their return journey
within 72 hours of completing their task, providing they are returning to their home base.
An example of this exemption in use are crew members who operate into the U.K. and
depart as passengers within 72 hours of arrival enroute to their home base i.e. Sydney or
Melbourne.
Departures from the Channel Islands (ACI/GCI/JER)
Infants not reaching 2 years of age, and not occupying a seat.
Transit passengers transferring to an international flight within 24 hours.
Transit passengers transferring between flights when the connecting time to a UK
domestic flight does not exceed 6 hours or when a flight arrives at or after 1700 one
day and a connecting UK domestic flight departs by 1000 the following morning.
Transit passengers who do not deplane.
Visiting Forces Military Personnel and NATO Military Headquarters and Agencies Staff
travelling for official purposes.
Passengers travelling on pleasure flights that leave from and return to the same airport,
do not put down anywhere else and do not exceed one hour.
Definition of lowest class of service:
- Lowest class refers to cabin entitlement, where the operating services operate with more
than one class of service, eg. First, Business, Economy then the economy cabin would be
classified as eligible for the lower rate and all other premium cabins would be higher
rated. A service operating as one class would be considered for the lower rate, which
means the Concorde is lower rated. A mixture of low and premium cabins on a throughconnected
journey would attract the higher rate.
Some airlines operate a separate level of service in a separate cabin for certain economy
passengers. Where this constitues a segregated service then the higher rate would apply.

 

[JohnK]

Thanks. Looks reasonable.

No drastic changes required to trip planning next August.

 

[serfty]

Here's the full rules (current I guess) from the Qantas Agents Website: TAXES LEVIES CHARGES - H-Z

UNITED KINGDOM

NAME: AIR PASSENGER DUTY
CODE: GB, YO for departures from the Isle of Man

AMOUNT:
Levied on all tickets/PTA’s for passengers departing from the UK airports (excluding the Channel Islands, ACI, GCI, JER, IOM) on all international/domestic flights.

Note: The following airports are exempt from the APD tax:
Barra/Benbecula/Campbeltown/Inverness/Islay/Kirkwall/Stornoway/Sumbrugh/Tiree/Wic

Domestic Travel

GBP5.00 applicable for travel in the lowest class of service.
GBP10.00 standard rate.

Following EC countries

Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, Turkey, Switzerland (airports not already covered)Slovenia.

GBP5.00 applicable for travel in the lowest class of service.
GBP10.00 standard rate.

International Travel

GBP5.00 applicable for travel in the lowest class of service to EEA points.
GBP10.00 applicable for travel “not” in the lowest class of service to EEA points.
GBP20.00 applicable for travel in the lowest class of service worldwide except EEA points.
GBP40.00 applicable for travel “not” in the lowest class of travel worldwide except EEA points.

Isle Of Man (IOM) is not part of the UK but does apply an APD similar to that in the UK.

GBP10.00 from IOM to European Union Countries.
GBP20.00 from IOM to other destinations countries.

DEFINITIONS:

United Kingdom: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

EEA areas (EU European Union): Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, (Croatia, from 01Nov 06) Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France (excluding overseas departments), Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Romania, Slovac Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland, Turkey, The United Kingdom. The following EU member state dependent territories are also included, Azores, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Channel Islands, Corsica, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Madeira, Isle of Man, Sardinia and Sicily.

For UK Tax purposes, Basel (BSL) and Geneva (GVA) are considered to be EU member state destinations.

EXEMPTIONS:

Any non revenue passenger that is airline employees who are crew, escorts of a passenger, engineering or security staff or employees involved in the hygienic preparation, handling of food or drink. Duties must be carried out within 72 hours of the flight landing. This exemption also includes those staff who commence their return journey within 72 hours of completing their task, providing they are returning to their home base. An example of this exemption in use are crew members who operate into the U.K. and depart as passengers within 72 hours of arrival enroute to their home base i.e. Sydney or Melbourne.

Departures from the Channel Islands (ACI/GCI/JER)

Infants not reaching 2 years of age, and not occupying a seat.

Transit passengers transferring to an international flight within 24 hours.

Transit passengers transferring between flights when the connecting time to a UK domestic flight does not exceed 6 hours or when a flight arrives at or after 1700 one day and a connecting UK domestic flight departs by 1000 the following morning.

Transit passengers who do not deplane.

Visiting Forces Military Personnel and NATO Military Headquarters and Agencies Staff travelling for official purposes.

Passengers travelling on pleasure flights that leave from and return to the same airport, do not put down anywhere else and do not exceed one hour.

Definition of lowest class of service:

- Lowest class refers to cabin entitlement, where the operating services operate with more than one class of service, eg. First, Business, Economy then the economy cabin would be classified as eligible for the lower rate and all other premium cabins would be higher rated. A service operating as one class would be considered for the lower rate, which means the Concorde is lower rated. A mixture of low and premium cabins on a throughconnected journey would attract the higher rate. Some airlines operate a separate level of service in a separate cabin for certain economy passengers. Where this constitues a segregated service then the higher rate would apply.

NAME: PASSENGER SERVICE CHARGE

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

pssst serfty - look a couple of posts before yours

 

[serfty]

pssst serfty - look a couple of posts before yours

Saw that after I had completed it; good to see that Both Qantas and IATA agree ...

Besides, mine's better formatted ...

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

I doubt v much that the new rate will apply to tickets issued before february, however should a reissue occur once the new rate is in place, I would expect it to be charged

I would suggest ticketing before Feb 1. Actually I don't have an ATW booked , I have a much nicer ticket arranged , though I do have a J ticket with a UK stop planned which I will make sure is booked before the APD hike is in place

Dave

Latest reports are the increase will be based on date flown not date purchased. Could cause some chaos at check in with airlines trying to collect the additional.

 

[JohnK]

It is truly ridiculous if the long haul departure tax will be ₤40 (A$100) in economy class and ₤80 (A$200) in Premium Economy, Business or First class!

I thought this article from the Guardian was interesting

Brown hikes air passenger duty

[FONT=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Dan Milmo, transport correspondent
Wednesday December 6, 2006
Guardian Unlimited
[/FONT]
Air passengers face a 7% increase in the cost of the average short-haul ticket after air passenger duty was doubled in the pre-budget report.


The move means that tax on short-haul flights leaving the UK will rise by £5 to £10 per economy class passenger, a cost that will be passed directly onto ticket prices by airlines.
On long-haul flights, it will rise to £40 for economy class and will double to £80 in business class, which generates nearly all the profits on long-distance journeys.

More...

 

[Dave Noble]

Latest reports are the increase will be based on date flown not date purchased. Could cause some chaos at check in with airlines trying to collect the additional.

Is this from a reliable source or from somewhere like the merchants of doom and gloom on the BA FT forum?

I would be surprised if they did it on date of travel rather than date of issue. Manually rechecking every ticket for 1 year from 1st Feb would be a horrendous task

Dave

 

[Dave Noble]

It is truly ridiculous if the long haul departure tax will be ₤40 (A$100) in economy class and ₤80 (A$200) in Premium Economy, Business or First class!

I don't think that it is an if , since it was announced by Gordon Brown. GBP80 is a pretty huge departure tax

Dave

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Is this from a reliable source or from somewhere like the merchants of doom and gloom on the BA FT forum?

I would be surprised if they did it on date of travel rather than date of issue. Manually rechecking every ticket for 1 year from 1st Feb would be a horrendous task

Dave

eg The Telegraph

I agree will be horrendous, so am glad I have no travel through UK in the immediate aftermath of the change.

 

[stryker]

The thing to do then, it would seem, is to fly to/from the UK (if you must) via Europe. Probably get cheaper fares too (eg LH, NYC-LON via FRA/MUC, etc, etc).

Interesting though... (might give Little J and his mate Max some thoughts).