Air passenger duty (APD) is set to rise on April Fools’ Day – and again on the same date in 2027. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has imposed an above-inflation increase from 1 April 2026 and one in line with the retail prices index a year after that. By the summer of 2027, a family of four flying premium economy to Orlando will pay over £1,000 in tax for leaving the UK in anything better than basic economy.
APD is the tax that passengers aged 16 and over must pay when flying from most UK airports. It is seen as a near-perfect tax by politicians. It is difficult to avoid and easy to collect, because airlines do all the work and send the Treasury a cheque. As the Treasury said when revealing the increase: “HMRC will not incur any costs making these changes.” In addition, many of the people who pay it are foreign visitors to the UK and do not vote.
