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Airlines often keep APD tax

Sunday 12 Apr 2009 8:51am

A report from ‘Which? Holiday' magazine has indicated that passengers who try to claim back Air Passenger Duty (APD) on unused flights are regularly charged administration fees that are more than double the original value of the tax, causing the unclaimed APD to remain with the airline. APD is an excise duty levied on the carriage of passengers on aircraft that meet certain criteria. The tax is payable to the UK Treasury by UK airlines and is usually included in the price of airfares to passengers. However, while travellers are required to pay APD as part of their airfare upfront, airlines are only liable to pay it once the flight has taken off. ‘Which? Holiday' surveyed a number of major airlines including British Airways, BMI, easyJet, Flybe, Ryanair, Thomson and Jet2. com. Their findings indicated that most airlines charge an administration fee that is much higher than the original APD fee to passengers who wish to reclaim their unused tax. APD charges currently start from £10 for short-haul economy flights, rising to £20 for other classes. APD on long-haul flights stands at £40 in economy class and £80 in other classes. From the selection of airlines contacted by ‘Which? Holiday', easyJet was the only one not to levy an admin fee to reclaim unused APD. British Airways charge £15-£30 depending on the class of the ticket, while Flybe, BMI and Ryanair charge an administration fee of £25, £25 and £15 per person, respectively. Thomson and Jet2. com both charge a flat fee per booking, with Thomson charging £25 and Jet2 charging £40. The total value of unclaimed APD is still not known, however there have been demands for the admin fee to be lowered in order to meet the original APD. Andy Harrison, easyJet's Chief Executive, has previously spoken out against APD, claiming: 'We have long argued that the current structure of APD is in need of reform. A tax that penalises families but excludes private jets; and charges passengers travelling to Marrakech the same as those travelling to Melbourne, is just plain wrong'. Amanda Diamond from Which? Holiday commented: 'We would like to see all airlines either remove the administration charge for reclaiming APD on unused flights or charge a proportionate fee. We believe it is the right of the passenger to receive a refund of this government tax and airlines should not be allowed to think they automatically qualify as the beneficiary of this tax. '

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