On June 19 last year I wrote an article on the Bulletin website which began: “Apart from the seven euro (now 20 euro) ETIAS EU visa coming into force soon and talk of frequent flyers being penalised in the UK to help offset emissions and climate change it has now been revealed that should Labour win the election in two weeks time, which is currently looking highly likely, Air Passenger Duty (APD) will be raised which means that travelling by air and therefore holidays to popular destinations like Mallorca will become even more expensive.” And look what has happened in this week’s budget.
Under the Budget plans, APD will rise from April 2027 in line with inflation. As the duty forms part of the cost of each airline ticket, carriers say the adjustment is likely to result in higher fares on some routes. The higher rate will also cover private jets for which Mallorca is one of Spain’s busiest airports over 5.7 tonnes.
“Extending the scope of the higher rate ensures the tax is applied consistently and that those who can afford to fly privately make a fair contribution alongside commercial air passengers,” Reeves said. APD is already due to rise from £13 to £15 on short-haul economy fares from April. Long-haul and premium cabins will see higher increases.
And a year ago, Ryanair, for example, threatened to reduce its UK flights if air passenger duty (APD) increased, Chief Executive Michael O’Leary said. O’Leary argued that higher APD would jeopardise the viability of some UK routes, potentially leading to capacity reductions. “If they raise APD again on domestic flights then there will be a cut in capacity, no question. These routes are not particularly profitable, they barely break even”, O’Leary said.
Now, the rate will increase at the rate of inflation from April 2027, along with the expansion of the higher rate to cover all private jets over 5.7 tonnes. The government confirmed it will “uprate all rates of Air Passenger Duty in line with RPI (retail price inflation) from 1 April 2027”. The economy rate of APD on short-haul international flights will increase from £15 to £15.49 from 2027.