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21/01/2007 - The Price of Air Passenger Duty

Whilst As much as we've all got used to cheap airfares over recent years, last December's announcement by the UK chancellor Gordon Brown of an increase in Air Passenger Duty will bring, for many, an unwelcome increase to the overall cost of their flight.

As a tax paid by airlines to the Government, it is levied on a per passenger basis for those jetting out from a UK airport. And, in future, it will automatically be added to the overall airfare quote. Namely, APD rates will be £10 for short haul flights (£20 in business class) and £40 for long haul flights (£80 in business class).

In the short term, problems have arisen for those who booked a flight before 6th December and for which their date of travel is after 1st February. In such cases, your airline or travel agent should have contacted you for payment of the extra charge, unless you booked flights as part of a package holiday (as rules governing the sale of package holidays require tour operators to absorb any surcharge on a holiday, providing it's less than two per cent of the overall cost).

Of the UKs most popular carriers, British Airways have opted to pay the APD charge for all those customers affected by the new ruling (estimated to be around £11 million), while airlines such as Bmi and Ryanair will automaticaly debit the money from the passenger's original credit card, unless they have a preference to pay over the phone or at the airport (though in the case of Ryanair paying at check-in will not be an option).

Similarly, Easyjet has contacted all of its affected passengers to inform them of the various ways to pay the extra APD, namely online, over the phone or at the airport, while Virgin Atlantic is enticing passengers to pay online by offering vouchers with a discount of £30 off future economy class tickets (£40 for premium class tickets).

Of course, the beauty of the scheme is that, for domestic flights i.e. a trip to Scotland, each time you depart a UK airport you'll incur the APD (so you'll pay on the return leg too). Be warned though, that passengers who object to the APD charge and refuse to pay will be denied boarding. So non-payment is not an option!!

Lastly, for those passengers who are required to pay an extra charge, make a note of any payment number that you're given and print off the receipt or payment confirmation (bringing it with you to the airport, just in case of difficulty).

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