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The UK government has confirmed that it will be increasing its Air Passenger Duty (APD) rates on long-haul premium cabin fares in April 2018 and again in April 2019. APD on all short-haul fares will remain frozen (as previously announced) as will APD on long-haul Economy Class fares from 2019.
UK Air Passenger Duty Costs
APD on flights < 2,000 miles
APD on flights > 2,000 miles
The 10% rise in long-haul premium cabin APD in 2019 seems particularly egregious.
What This Means For Travelers
The truth is that if you’re flying on a cash fare you probably won’t notice all that much of a difference. Fares fluctuate on a daily basis so you’re not likely to notice a £6 or £16 rise when they come in to effect.
If, however, you happen to be traveling on an award ticket you’re far more likely to notice the extra you have to pay (yes, you pay APD on award tickets as well as cash fares).
At current rates £172 is approximately $230 and, if you’re being to asked to pay that each time you book a transatlantic Business Class award to/from the UK, it’s going to add up.
American Airlines 777-200 Business Class
The travelers I most feel sorry for are those based in the UK.
Here in the US we can simply choose to avoid flying into and out of the UK when heading to Europe and that solves the problem of APD…but how do you avoid APD if you’re based in the UK?
On top of that, if you’re based in the UK, you’re probably a BA/Virgin captive which means that you’re also at the mercy of the outrageous surcharges both of those airlines levy on award flights – those surcharges are just another set of taxes under another name.
Bottom Line
Flying in premium cabins out of the UK has been expensive for quite some time (it’s why a lot of UK flyers choose to position to Europe to get considerably cheaper fares and to save on award costs) and it doesn’t look like it’s about to get cheaper anytime soon.
