UK Air Passenger Duty Rising Again: November Budget Confirms Three Years of Increases

If you've noticed your flight tickets getting more expensive lately, Air Passenger Duty (APD) is partly to blame. The UK government has now confirmed three consecutive years of increases to this departure tax – with rates already up from April 2025, another round coming in April 2026, and yesterday's Budget announcing further RPI-linked rises from April 2027.

For those of us who collect points and miles, this matters because APD applies to award flights too. Whether you're paying cash or redeeming Avios for that dream business class trip, you'll still need to cough up the APD. And if you're flying premium cabins on long-haul routes, the numbers are getting eye-watering.

Let me break down exactly what's changing, how much more you'll pay, and some legitimate strategies to reduce or avoid APD altogether.

Yesterday's Budget brought two significant APD announcements. First, all APD rates will increase by RPI (Retail Price Index) from 1 April 2027, meaning the tax will now automatically rise with inflation each year. Second – and this is the big one – the government is extending the higher rate of APD to cover all private jets above 5.7 tonnes from April 2027.

Currently, only private jets over 20 tonnes with fewer than 19 seats pay the punishing "higher rate" APD. From April 2027, that threshold drops dramatically to 5.7 tonnes, bringing virtually all business jets into the highest tax bracket. If you've ever dreamed of chartering a private jet, the window just got more expensive.

Air Passenger Duty is a tax charged on passengers departing from UK airports. Introduced back in 1994 by then-Chancellor Kenneth Clarke, it was originally set at just £5 for European flights and £10 for long-haul. The idea was to offset the fact that aviation fuel isn't subject to duty like petrol and diesel.

Fast forward to 2025, and APD has evolved into a complex system with four destination bands and three rate categories. The tax is technically charged to airlines, but they pass it directly onto passengers – so you're paying it whether you book a cheap Ryanair flight or redeem points for British Airways Club World.

Crucially, APD only applies to departures from the UK. Flying into London? No APD. Flying out? That's when you pay. This creates some interesting opportunities for savvy travellers, which I'll cover later.

There are two sets of changes to be aware of: the rates that came into effect on 1 April 2025, and the further increases coming on 1 April 2026.

The government is framing this as a 13% increase across all rates to account for inflation that wasn't captured in previous years. Chancellor Rachel Reeves stated that APD "has not kept up with inflation in recent years" – though critics point out that since 1994, APD on long-haul flights has actually increased by over 800%, far outpacing inflation.

Note that from 2027-28 onwards, APD rates will be calculated to the penny rather than rounded to the nearest pound. This removes the small benefit travellers occasionally got from rounding.

Let's put this into perspective with some real examples:

Weekend city break to Barcelona in economy: Currently £13 each way, rising to £15 from April 2026. For a return trip, that's an extra £4 per person. Not catastrophic, but it adds up for families.

Business class to New York: Currently £216 each way, rising to £244 in April 2026 and £251.95 in April 2027. Over two years, that's an extra £72 per flight – and remember, this applies whether you're paying cash or redeeming Avios.

Business class to Sydney: Currently £224 each way, rising to £253. An extra £58 return. Given that ultra-long-haul business class tickets can already cost £5,000+, this is percentage-wise smaller, but still £58 you'd rather spend elsewhere.

Family of four to Florida in economy: Currently £360 return (£90 × 4), rising to £408 in April 2026. That's nearly £50 extra just in tax.

The good news? Children under 16 flying in economy class are exempt from APD. So for that Florida trip, if you have kids under 16, you'd only pay for the two adults.

This is where it gets particularly frustrating for points collectors. When you redeem Avios, Virgin Points, or any other currency for flights departing the UK, you still pay APD on top of your points.

Using our Avios calculator, a one-way business class redemption from London to New York costs 80,000-90,000 Avios plus taxes and fees. Those taxes include APD – so from April 2026, you're looking at £244 just for the departure tax, before any carrier surcharges.

This is one reason why booking award flights into the UK rather than out of the UK can significantly reduce your out-of-pocket costs. More on that strategy below.

Here's something many travellers don't realise: Premium Economy is charged at the same 'standard' APD rate as Business Class and First Class.

The technical rule is that the 'reduced rate' (economy) only applies when the seat pitch is less than 40 inches (1.016 metres) and it's the lowest class of travel on the aircraft. Premium Economy cabins, while not offering lie-flat beds or champagne, still get hit with the full premium cabin APD.

So if you're debating whether Premium Economy is worth it over Economy, factor in that you'll pay £244 rather than £102 to New York from April 2026. That's £142 extra in tax alone, each way.

Now for the practical bit. There are several completely legal ways to minimise your APD exposure:

The simplest strategy: book your long-haul business class flight to arrive in the UK, and use a cheaper positioning flight or train to start your outbound journey from elsewhere in Europe.

For example, instead of flying London to Tokyo in business class and paying £224+ APD, you could take a short flight to Dublin, Paris, or Amsterdam, then fly onward from there. Ireland and many European countries have much lower (or no) departure taxes.

The Eurostar to Paris takes just 2.5 hours and can be surprisingly affordable. From Paris, you'd face minimal French departure taxes and avoid UK APD entirely.

Flights departing from airports in the Scottish Highlands and Islands are completely exempt from APD. This includes Inverness, which has connections to London and some European destinations.

The trick is that if you book a connecting itinerary starting from Inverness (on the same ticket), the entire journey is APD-free. So an Inverness → London Heathrow → New York routing would avoid the long-haul APD, even though you're connecting through London.

This works particularly well if you fancy exploring the Highlands before your trip anyway – and Inverness is a beautiful part of the UK.

If you're connecting through the UK and your layover is under 24 hours, you don't pay APD. This rule exists to avoid double-taxation on transit passengers.

However, if you're visiting London for a few days and then flying onward, you'll pay full APD on that departing flight.

Direct long-haul flights from Northern Ireland to Band B or C destinations are APD-free. Currently, there aren't many such routes, but if a transatlantic service ever launches from Belfast, this could be a significant saving.

If you receive a complimentary upgrade to business class after booking economy, you don't pay the difference in APD. The tax is based on your original booking class, not your actual seat.

This is why having airline status (like BA Gold, which gives you better upgrade chances) can indirectly save you money on APD. Similarly, using airline schemes like Air Canada's eUpgrades or Qantas Points upgrades from economy would avoid the premium cabin APD.

However, if you pay to upgrade (including with points specifically for an upgrade), you'll owe the additional APD.

APD is often framed as an environmental tax, but the government's own assessment states that these increases will have "a negligible impact on the environment." The reality is that APD is primarily a revenue-raising measure – it's expected to generate £4.7 billion in 2025-26.

Interestingly, the tax doesn't account for aircraft efficiency at all. An airline operating a modern, fuel-efficient A350 pays the same APD as one flying an older, less efficient aircraft. And the revenue goes into general government coffers rather than being ring-fenced for environmental initiatives.

Unsurprisingly, airlines aren't happy. Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has warned that increased APD could lead to reduced capacity and fewer UK routes, with the airline potentially redirecting flights to countries with lower aviation taxes like Hungary, Sweden, and Italy.

For budget airlines operating very cheap fares, APD becomes a proportionally larger part of the ticket price. On a £20 Ryanair fare to Europe, the £15 APD (from April 2026) represents 75% of the base fare.

Airlines UK has also expressed concern about the competitiveness of UK airports, particularly as carriers invest in sustainable aviation fuel and other environmental initiatives.

The headline APD news from yesterday's Budget wasn't about commercial flights – it was about private jets. From April 2027, the government is extending the "higher rate" of APD to cover all private jets above 5.7 tonnes.

Currently, only jets over 20 tonnes with fewer than 19 seats pay the higher rate (which reaches £1,141 for Band C ultra-long-haul from April 2026). That 20-tonne threshold excluded most business jets. The new 5.7-tonne threshold captures virtually every private jet in operation.

For context, a Cessna Citation CJ4 (a popular light business jet) weighs around 7.7 tonnes. A Gulfstream G650 is around 45 tonnes. Both will now face the same punishing higher APD rates.

What does this mean in practice? A Band B private jet flight (say, London to New York) will cost £1,097 per passenger in APD from April 2026. That's not per flight – that's per person. A jet carrying 8 passengers would face £8,776 in APD alone, before any other costs.

The government's stated aim is to ensure private jet users "make a fair contribution to the public finances." Whether you view this as fair taxation or an attack on business aviation probably depends on whether you've ever chartered a jet.

As someone who flies frequently in and out of the UK, I have mixed feelings about these increases. On one hand, £2 extra for a short-haul economy flight isn't going to change my travel plans. On the other hand, the premium cabin increases feel punitive, especially when they apply equally to Premium Economy and First Class.

What frustrates me most is that APD applies to award flights. You've earned those points through loyalty and spending – paying £253 in tax (rising to £261.25 from April 2027) on top of your hard-earned Avios feels like being taxed twice.

The private jets crackdown is interesting. On one hand, it's hard to argue that private jet users shouldn't pay more. On the other, the UK already has some of the highest aviation taxes in Europe, and making business aviation even more expensive could push charter operations to base themselves elsewhere.

My approach going forward will be to factor APD more heavily into my travel planning. For shorter trips, the tax isn't a dealbreaker. But for aspirational business class redemptions, I'll be looking more seriously at positioning to Dublin, Helsinki or Paris to avoid the UK departure tax.

If you're planning a big trip, consider booking before April 2026 to lock in the current (slightly lower) APD rates. And remember – flying into the UK and out from elsewhere is your friend.

Here's a handy summary of how APD is changing over the next two years:

Before booking, use our BA Avios Calculator to see how many points you'll earn on paid flights, and our How Many Avios For a Flight tool to plan redemptions. For checking flight distances (which determine APD bands), try our Great Circle Mapper.

If you're hunting for award availability, Seats.aero and Roame.Travel are excellent for finding those elusive business class seats.

Safe travels, and may your APD bills be as low as possible!

Jack