For those who may not know, the Air Passenger Duty (APD) charged on the carriage of passengers flying from a UK airport, on a plane with a weight of more than 10 tonnes or more than 20 seats for passengers. The British government has decided to increase this fee substantially beginning with November 1st.
The ADP, set to curb CO2 emissions, will be divided into four categories, depending on how much a passenger flies and is set to rise November 1st, 2009 and again on November 1st, 2010. Thus, flying long distance will be significantly more expensive.
|
New Rate |
Nov ‘09 – Oct ‘10 (lowest) |
Nov ’10 onwards (lowest) |
Nov ’09 – Oct ’10 (other) |
Nov ’10 onwards (other) |
|
Band A (0 – 2000 miles) |
£11.00 |
£12.00 |
£22.00 |
£24.00 |
|
Band B (2001 – 4000 miles) |
£45.00 |
£60.00 |
£90.00 |
£120.00 |
|
Band C (4001 – 6000 miles) |
£50.00 |
£75.00 |
£100.00 |
£150.00 |
| Band D
(over 6000 miles) |
£55.00 |
£85.00 |
£110.00 |
£170.00 |
*other = other class than Economy; source: Wikipedia
Passengers flying on Premium Economy, Business and First Class will be hit the hardest, ADP almost doubling for them.
For example, for a family of four flying from London to Australia on Economy Class, the ADP will be £220 starting with November of 2009 and £340 from November 2010 onwards.
The fee will also apply to International visitors, who will have to pay the tax when they fly out of the country, seriously affecting flights from the UK, especially long haul.
Still, it seems the ADP doesn’t reach its objective, a study showing this tax is unlikely to curb CO2 emissions coming from travel.