Air Passenger Duty rates 2026/27: bands, countries and every year since 2015

Air Passenger Duty is an excise duty on each passenger flying from a UK airport. The operator of the aircraft pays it, and the amount is set by two things: how far the final destination is from London, in four bands, and the class of travel. From 1 April 2026 it runs from £8 for an economy seat on a domestic flight to £253 for a premium seat to the furthest band, and more for business jets. This page sets out every published rate, which band each country falls in, and the statute behind it.

APD rates for 2025, 2026 and 2027 side by side

Three things stand out once the columns are next to each other. The economy rate to Europe moved +£2 (+15.4%), which is small money on a single ticket. The premium rate to Europe moved +£4 (+14.3%). And the higher rate — the business-jet rate — moved +£450 (+69.6%) to Band B and +£468 (+69.5%) to Band C, which is a policy change rather than an inflation uprating.

The 2027 figures are the first to carry pence. They are published now, on HMRC’s current rates page, so anyone budgeting a travel programme across the April 2027 boundary can use the real number rather than an estimate.

What the duty is, in the words of the Act

Two consequences follow from the next subsection, and both matter to a business buyer:

• The passenger is not the taxpayer. The operator registers with HMRC and pays. The duty reaches your organisation inside the fare. A separate “APD” line on a supplier’s invoice is a commercial charge that a supplier has chosen to show, not a tax the supplier is collecting from you.
• It becomes due on take-off. That is why searches for an “air passenger duty refund” exist: a passenger who never flew was never carried, so no duty became due for them. How the airline returns that part of a fare is a matter for its terms — the duty legislation does not give the passenger a claim against HMRC.

Reduced, standard and higher: the word that means two things

HMRC’s table has three columns. The Act has two cases and a replacement rate. They line up like this:

So the Act’s “standard class travel” is HMRC’s reduced rate, and HMRC’s standard rate is the Act’s “any other case”. Nobody is wrong; the two documents use one word for opposite ends of the cabin. Our build compares the four amounts in s.30 against HMRC’s 2026 table every time this page is generated, and would stop if they disagreed.

HMRC’s guidance then adds the rules that decide which column a seat falls in:

• Seat pitch. Reduced: “For travel in the lowest class of travel available on the plane for seat pitches less than 1.016 metres (40 inches).”
• Upgrades. “If a passenger pays to upgrade at any stage in the journey, then they’re travelling in the higher class.”
• Extra legroom does not, on its own, change the class — HMRC lists “paying extra for a seat with extra legroom, as long as: the seat is not separated from the ordinary seats in any way [and] there are no other benefits linked with the seat” among the things that do not.
• Mixed cabins on one journey. “If a passenger travels in more than one class on their journey, the standard rate is due on the whole journey.”
• Higher rate. “For travel in planes of 20 tonnes or more equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers.”

The five rules that most change a corporate estimate — the capital-city band, the two conditions for the reduced rate, connected flights, the business-jet rule and the April uprating — are worked through with examples in Air Passenger Duty 2026 vs 2027: 5 rules that set the bill.

The calculator does one departure. It does not apply the exemptions (children, connected flights, the Highlands and Islands) and it does not decide the class for you; those are in the rules above and on HMRC’s pages linked at the foot.

Which band each country is in

The band is set by distance from London to the capital city of the destination country, not to the airport you land at. HMRC publishes the result as lists, so nothing needs to be measured: find the country, read the band.

Domestic

Journeys ending in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are not part of the UK for this purpose — HMRC places them in Band A.

Band A — 0 to 2,000 miles

All EU and EEA countries — the 27 EU members plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway — and the following non-EU countries and territories:

HMRC also names these islands and territories as Band A: Corsica, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Madeira, Sicily, Svalbard, The Azores, The Balearic Islands, The Canary Islands, The Channel Islands.

The 27 EU countries (GOV.UK list)

• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Republic of Cyprus
• Czechia
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland

• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Ireland
• Italy
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg

• Malta
• Netherlands
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Sweden

Band B — 2,001 to 5,500 miles

125 countries and territories, exactly as HMRC lists them:

Band C — over 5,500 miles

HMRC’s rule is one sentence: “From 1 April 2023, any other destination will fall into band C.” There is no Band C list. A destination that is on neither the Band A nor the Band B list is Band C — which is how Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Peru end up there.

Every rate since 2015

The four-band structure started on 1 April 2023; before that there were two bands, A (up to 2,000 miles) and B (everything else), and no separate domestic band. Across the period the Band B standard rate went +£102 (+71.8%). The economy rate to Europe stayed at £13 from 1 April 2015 until 1 April 2026.

Connected flights and the 24-hour rule

Duty is charged per journey, not per flight, when the flights are connected — the operator of the first flight pays for the whole journey at the final destination’s band. HMRC’s test for an onward international flight:

“Where the second of 2 flights is an international flight (from the UK to an international destination), the flights are connected if its scheduled time of departure is within 24 hours of the scheduled time of arrival of the first flight.”

HMRC — Air Passenger Duty and connected flights

• Tickets: “The connected flights must be detailed on the same ticket or conjunction tickets to qualify for the exemption.” Separately booked flights that happen to line up do not qualify.
• Stopovers: “A passenger whose final destination is in a lower rate country will pay the higher rate duty if they stop on the way for longer than 24 hours at a destination in a higher rate country.”
• Domestic connections have their own time windows, and a domestic out-and-back to the same airport is never connected — HMRC’s example is Manchester to Edinburgh and back.

Northern Ireland: direct long-haul at £0

“You do not pay duty on direct long-haul flights departing from airports in Northern Ireland.” A direct long-haul flight is one where the journey begins in Northern Ireland, the first part is to a destination outside the UK and outside Band A, and that part does not connect elsewhere first. Indirect journeys pay the normal rate:

One cell in HMRC’s historic Northern Ireland table does not match the rest. For 1 April 2023 the domestic reduced rate is shown as £6.60 for direct and £6.50 for indirect journeys, while the main table for the same year shows £6.50. We reproduce HMRC’s figures as published and have not corrected either.

Want someone to model APD across your actual routes?

Describe the requirement once. It goes to no more than three suppliers, once each.

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What moves the APD line in a travel programme

• Cabin policy is the lever. On a Band B trip the gap between the reduced and standard rate is £142 per passenger per departure from 1 April 2026. A travel policy that allows premium economy on long haul is also a decision to pay that.
• Book connections on one ticket. Split tickets can turn one charge into two.
• Price 2027 with 2027 rates. They are published; a three-year model at today’s figures understates from year two.
• Treat a separate “APD fee” line as commercial. Ask what it is for, because the duty itself is already in the fare.

The other cost lines a supplier’s quote contains, including VAT under the Tour Operators Margin Scheme, are on what corporate travel management costs; cabin rules belong in a corporate travel policy.

This page reproduces HMRC’s published rates and the text of the Finance Act 1994. It is not tax advice, and the operator’s return is the operator’s responsibility.

Common questions

What is air passenger duty?

An excise duty on passengers flying from UK airports. Section 28(1) of the Finance Act 1994: “A duty to be known as air passenger duty shall be charged in accordance with this Chapter on the carriage on a chargeable aircraft of any chargeable passenger.” The operator of the aircraft pays it, and the amount depends on the destination band and the class of travel.

What are the new air passenger duty rates?

From 1 April 2026 the reduced (economy) rate is £8 domestic, £15 to Band A, £102 to Band B and £106 to Band C. The standard rate is £16, £32, £244 and £253. HMRC has already published the rates from 1 April 2027: £15.49 and £33.04 for Band A, for example.

How much has air passenger duty increased?

Between the 2025 and 2026 tables, the Band A standard rate moved +£4 (+14.3%) and the Band B higher rate moved +£450 (+69.6%). Over the longer run, the Band B standard rate has gone +£102 (+71.8%) since the 1 April 2015 table.

Who pays air passenger duty?

The aircraft operator. Section 28(2) says the duty becomes due when the aircraft first takes off on the passenger’s flight and “shall be paid by the operator of the aircraft”. It reaches the passenger through the fare.

Can I get air passenger duty refunded if I did not fly?

The statute makes the duty due when the aircraft first takes off on the passenger’s flight, so no duty became due for a passenger who was never carried. How and whether the amount is returned is governed by the airline’s own terms, not by the duty legislation.

Which band is the United States in?

Band B. HMRC lists “United States (including Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands)” among the Band B destinations. From 1 April 2026 that is £102 reduced and £244 standard per passenger.

Is premium economy charged the standard rate?

Usually. The reduced rate is only for the lowest class of travel available on the plane with a seat pitch under 1.016 metres (40 inches). Any other class pays the standard rate, and HMRC’s guidance says a paid upgrade at any stage puts the passenger in the higher class.

Do children pay air passenger duty?

Children under 16 in the lowest class of travel are exempt, and children under 2 without their own seat are exempt in any class. A child under 16 in any other class, or on a business jet, is not exempt.

Is there air passenger duty on flights from Northern Ireland?

Yes, except on direct long-haul flights: HMRC says duty is not paid on direct flights from Northern Ireland whose first part is to a destination outside the UK and outside Band A. Indirect journeys to Band B and C destinations pay the normal rates.

Sources cited on this page

1. Finance Act 1994, s.28 — Air passenger duty
2. Finance Act 1994, s.30 — The rate of duty
3. HMRC — Rates and allowances for Air Passenger Duty
4. HMRC — Historic rates for Air Passenger Duty
5. HMRC — Air Passenger Duty and connected flights
6. HMRC — Exemptions from Air Passenger Duty
7. HMRC — Air Passenger Duty for plane operators
8. GOV.UK — Countries in the EU and EEA

Every figure above was read from the source it is attributed to on 20 September 2026. How we check this.