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An Introduction to APD and the Changes Introduced on 1st November 2010

Dépèche transmise le 19 novembre 2010 par PRNewswire

LONDON, November 19, 2010 /PRNewswire/ --

-1. What is APD? -2. Brief History -3. How much is it? -4. Reduced Rate APD vs. Standard Rate APD -5. Child tickets -6. Tickets bought before 1st November -7. What we think -8. Useful Links

What is APD?

On 1st November 2010 a new increase in Air Passenger Duty (APD) came into effect which brought new tax increases for flying to some of Britain's favourite destinations.

APD is charged based on a series of tax bands determined by the distance between London and the capital city of the destination country. So this means that if you're travelling to the capital city (like Canberra in Australia) or to a city on the other side of the country to the capital (like Perth, Australia for example) the band is the same.

This means it's not always a reflection of the distance actually travelled and some of the UK's all time favourite holiday destinations () - such as the Caribbean - are predicted to be hit heavily.

There is a standard rate and reduced rate for each band which varies according to seat class.

A brief history of APD

Until 31 October 2009 there were four rates of duty:

Rate For specified European For all other destinations destinations Standard rates GBP20 GBP80 Reduced rates GBP10 GBP40

On 1st November 2009 the current four destination band structure (see table below.), based on geographical distance from London was introduced, with each band having two rates of duty depending upon the class of travel. The rates were also increased with the lowest band now being GBP11 rather than GBP10, but the highest increasing from GBP80 to GBP110.

The changes on 1st November 2010 retained the 4 band structure, but brought further increases detailed below

How much is it?

Rate Tax Band Old price (Up New price % to 1st Nov (after 1st increase 2010) Nov 2010) vs. 2009 Standard Band A GBP22.00 GBP24.00 0 - 2,000 miles 9% Reduced rate GBP11.00 GBP12.00 Standard Band B GBP90.00 GBP120.00 2,001 - 4,000 miles 33% Reduced rate GBP45.00 GBP60.00 Standard Band C GBP100.00 GBP150.00 4,001 - 6,000 miles 50% Reduced rate GBP50.00 GBP75.00 Standard Band D GBP110.00 GBP170.00 over 6,000 miles 55% Reduced rate GBP55.00 GBP85.00

Reduced Rate APD vs. Standard Rate APD - when does each rate apply?

- Reduced rate of APDusually applies to passengers travelling in the lowest class of travel on a plane (usually this is economy class) - Standard rate applies to any other classes. Or, if there is only one class of travel on the flight and the seat spacing (seat 'pitch') is 40 inches or more, then the standard rate would also apply.

Child Tickets

APD is based on seats sold so it still applies to child tickets unless the child is under two and has not been allocated a separate seat before boarding.

Tickets bought before 1st November 2010

The November 1st 2010 increase will affect any passenger whose flight () begins on or after this date so unfortunately booking or buying your ticket before 1st November does not mean you have missed the increase. The tax will already have been included in the price of tickets sold before 1st November 2010.

What do we think?

Expedia.co.uk () is supporting The Telegraph's opposition to APD and seeking a review as we believe the that the APD increase is bad for travellers, bad for tourism, bad for business and unlikely to benefit the environment under current plans. If you agree with this you can sign their petition online by emailing with your full name and address or sign up via The Telegraph's online form () .

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CONTACT: For further press information, please contact the Expedia pressoffice team:Telephone: 0844-875-1457, Email: