If you’re a plane operator you’ll need to check which rates of Air Passenger Duty to pay before you fill in your return to HMRC.

Duty is charged on each passenger and is based on where their journey ends. This is their final destination.

Rate bands

Up to 31 March 2023, there were 2 destination rate bands.

Bands	Distance from London to the destination’s capital city
A	Between 0 to 2,000 miles
B	Over 2,000 miles

Band A — destinations

Band ‘A’ is all destinations in the EU and EEA and also includes the following:

In addition to EU and EEA	Non-EU countries
Corsica	Albania	Morocco
Gibraltar	Algeria	North Macedonia
Madeira	Andorra	San Marino
Sicily	Belarus	Republic of Moldova
Svalbard	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Russian Federation (west of the Urals)
The Azores	Faroe Islands	Serbia
The Balearic Islands	Greenland	Switzerland
The Canary Islands	Kosovo	Tunisia
The Channel Islands	Libya	Turkey
Isle of Man	Monaco	Ukraine
—	Montenegro	—

Changes to rate bands from 1 April 2023

From 1 April 2023, there are 4 destination bands.

There is a ‘domestic’ band for destinations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland only, and international bands A, B and C for all other destinations.

Band	Distance from London to destination capital city
A	0 to 2,000 miles
B	2,001 miles to 5,500 miles
C	over 5,500 miles

Band B — destinations

A to D	E to K	N to S	T to Z
Afghanistan	Egypt	Namibia	Tajikistan
Angola	El Salvador	Nepal	Tanzania
Anguilla	Equatorial Guinea	Nicaragua	The Bahamas
Antigua and Barbuda	Eritrea	Niger	The Gambia
Armenia	Ethiopia	Nigeria	Togo
Aruba	French Guiana	North Korea	Trinidad and Tobago
Azerbaijan	Gabon	Oman	Turkmenistan
Bahrain	Georgia	Pakistan	Turks and Caicos Islands
Bangladesh	Ghana	Panama	Uganda
Barbados	Grenada	Qatar	United Arab Emirates
Belize	Guadeloupe	Russian Federation (east of the Urals)	United States (including Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands)
Benin	Guatemala	Rwanda	Uzbekistan
Bermuda	Guinea	Saba	Venezuela
Bhutan	Guinea-Bissau	Saint Barthélemy	Yemen
Bonaire	Guyana	Saint Lucia	Zambia
Botswana	Haiti	Saint Martin	Zimbabwe
Brazil	Honduras	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	—
British Virgin Islands	India	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	—
Burkina Faso	Iran	Sao Tome and Principe	—
Burundi	Iraq	Saudi Arabia	—
Cameroon	Israel	Senegal	—
Canada	Ivory Coast	Seychelles	—
Cape Verde	Jamaica	Sierra Leone	—
Cayman Islands	Jordan	Sint Eustatius	—
Central African Republic	Kazakhstan	Sint Maarten	—
Chad	Kenya	Somalia	—
China	Kuwait	South Korea	—
Colombia	Kyrgyzstan	South Sudan	—
Comoros	Lebanon	Sri Lanka	—
Congo	Liberia	St Helena Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	—
Congo (Democratic Republic)	Malawi	St Kitts and Nevis	—
Costa Rica	Maldives	Sudan	—
Cuba	Mali	Suriname	—
Curaçao	Martinique	Syria	—
Djibouti	Mauritania	—	—
Dominica	Mayotte	—	—
Dominican Republic	Mongolia	—	—
—	Montserrat	—	—

How to work out what destination band the final destination is in

The original place of departure and the final place of destination is what’s shown on the ticket unless:

• a journey includes 2 or more flights
• any of those flights are not followed by a connected flight

A passenger’s final destination is where their journey ends. If the journey is made of one flight the final destination is where that flight ends. If the journey includes more than one flight, and the flights are connected, the final destination is where the last flight ends and is not followed by a connected flight.

Find out more about connected flights.

Rate types

There are 3 rates of duty for each destination band depending on the class of travel.

Reduced rate

For travel in the lowest class of travel available on the plane for seat pitches less than 1.016 metres (40 inches).

Standard rate

For travel in any other class of travel or where the seat pitch is more than 1.016 metres (40 inches).

Higher rate

For travel in planes of 20 tonnes or more equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers.

Classes of travel

If the passengers have different standards of comfort, service, privacy or amenities, they’re in different classes of travel.

Better seats at no extra cost on first-come first-served basis

If the plane has different cabins or seating areas, passengers are not in a higher class as long as both the following apply:

• there is no extra cost for a better seat
• the better seating is available on a ‘first-come first-served’ basis, whether at the booking stage or when they get on the plane

Packages and seat-only

Seats bought from a tour operator as part of a package are not a different class to seats bought on a flight-only basis.

On-board purchases, seating preferences and other benefits

The following on their own do not affect the class of travel, but may do so if they form part of a package of benefits:

• buying goods and services on board unless they add up to an upgrade
• paying extra to choose a seat, as long as it is not a better class of seat
• paying extra to sit next to an empty seat
• paying for an empty seat
• paying extra for a seat with extra legroom, as long as:
  • the seat is not separated from the ordinary seats in any way
  • there are no other benefits linked with the seat
• paying extra for benefits such as:
  • pre-booking
  • reduced check in times
  • fast track through security
  • priority boarding
  • access to VIP lounges
  • transport to or from the airport
  • better baggage allowances

Upgrades

If a passenger pays to upgrade at any stage in the journey, then they’re travelling in the higher class.

The same applies to free upgrades if there’s an element of entitlement or priority not enjoyed by other standard class passengers. For example ‘perks’ enjoyed by airline employees.

A passenger remains in standard class if they get a free upgrade but has no expectation of, or entitlement to one.

Calculate what you owe

To calculate the duty you owe:

• work out the number of passengers in each band (Domestic, A, B or C), less any exempt passengers
• identify the class of travel for each and whether they’re carried in a plane that attracts the higher rate
• apply the relevant rate to this number to get the amount of duty you owe

For business jets, calculate seat pitches:

• for facing seats, the distance between the back support cushion of a seat in its upright position to the back support cushion of the opposing seat in its upright position, and divide this by 2
• for bench or side facing seats that face onto an aisle, the distance from the back support cushion to where aisle space reasonably begins

For private jets, if the seats on your aircraft have seat pitches both above and below 40 inches, you may need to apply both reduced and standard rates. To account for duty, you should apply the:

• standard rate to all passengers if the number of passengers is less than, or equal to the number of seats over 40 inches
• standard rate to the number of passengers that equal the number of 40 inch plus seats, if the number of passengers exceeds the number of 40 inch plus seats
• reduced rate to the rest

Rates for flights starting in the UK

Duty rates for flights starting from UK airports, excluding Northern Ireland and the Scottish Highlands and Islands region. Find out more about Air Passenger Duty in the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

Rates from 1 April 20252026

Destination bands	Reduced rate	Standard rate	Higher rate
Domestic	£7£8	£14£16	£84£142
Band A	£13£15	£28£32	£84£142
Band B	£90£102	£216£244	£647£1097
Band C	£94£106	£224£253	£673£1141

Rates from 1 April 20242025

Destination bands	Reduced rate	Standard rate	Higher rate
Domestic	£7	£14	£78£84
Band A	£13	£26£28	£78£84
Band B	£88£90	£194£216	£581£647
Band C	£92£94	£202£224	£607£673

Check which duty rates apply for years earlier than the current year.

Rates for flights starting in Northern Ireland

You do not pay duty on direct long-haul flights departing from airports in Northern Ireland. A flight is a ‘direct long-haul flight’ when:

• the passenger’s journey begins from an airport in Northern Ireland
• the first part of the journey is to a destination not in the UK or in band A
• that part of the journey is direct and does not connect elsewhere beforehand

You do not need to declare these flights on your return. Instead you’ll need to give the relevant information on a quarterly basis in a separate spreadsheet to the Central Assurance Team.

Contact the Central Assurance Team by email if you think this applies to you.

You’ll still need to complete returns for domestic flights, band A flights and indirect flights to band B and C destinations.

Rates from 1 April 20252026

Destination band: Domestic

Rates	Direct	Indirect
Reduced rate	£7£8	£7£8
Standard rate	£14£16	£14£16
Higher rate	£84£142	£84£142

Destination band: A

Rates	Direct	Indirect
Reduced rate	£13£15	£13£15
Standard rate	£28£32	£28£32
Higher rate	£84£142	£84£142

Destination band: B

Rates	Direct	Indirect
Reduced rate	£0	£90£102
Standard rate	£0	£216£244
Higher rate	£0	£647£1097

Destination band: C

Rates	Direct	Indirect
Reduced rate	£0	£94£106
Standard rate	£0	£224£253
Higher rate	£0	£673£1141

Rates from 1 April 20242025

Destination band: Domestic

Rates	Direct	Indirect
Reduced rate	£7	£7
Standard rate	£14	£14
Higher rate	£78£84	£78£84

Destination band: A

Rates	Direct	Indirect
Reduced rate	£13	£13
Standard rate	£26£28	£26£28
Higher rate	£78£84	£78£84

Destination band: B

Rates	Direct	Indirect
Reduced rate	£0	£88£90
Standard rate	£0	£194£216
Higher rate	£0	£581£647

Destination band: C

Rates	Direct	Indirect
Reduced rate	£0	£92£94
Standard rate	£0	£202£224
Higher rate	£0	£607£673

Check which duty rates apply for years earlier than the current year.