Flights to Spain, France, Greece and Portugal hit with £15 expenses

Prices for flying to in style European vacation locations have gone up.

Plane landing at airport

Air Passenger Obligation charges elevated on April 1 which is prone to have a knock-on impact on air fares (Picture: Getty)

Flights to in style vacation locations throughout Europe, together with Spain, France, Greece and Portugal, now face new £15 expenses following an uplift final month.

As of April 1, Air Passenger Obligation (APD) charges have elevated and that is prone to have a knock-on impact on air fares, leading to dearer air fares for holidaymakers. APD is a tax paid by airline operators to HM Income and Customs (HMRC) for passengers departing from UK airports, with the charges changing into more and more dearer primarily based on the size of the flight and the category of journey. The tax was first launched in 1994 to offset the environmental influence of air journey and applies to passengers aged 16 or over travelling on each home and worldwide flights.

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Whereas APD is paid by airline operators, ticket costs normally embody a cost to cowl this price and airways then move the payment to HMRC, so any enhance sometimes means dearer air fares for UK passengers.

The brand new APD charges at the moment are in impact and apply till March 31, 2027, with prices starting from £8 to a whopping £1,141 per individual.

The charges are divided throughout 4 totally different bands which range primarily based on the place you’re travelling to, with longer distance flights incurring increased expenses, and the category of journey that are cut up throughout three classes:

Explaining the adjustments final month, the Chartered Institute of Taxation mentioned: “From 1 April, the federal government is elevating Air Passenger Obligation charges by 13-15% throughout all bands and cabin courses, with a further 50% enhance for personal jets.

“This can, for instance, enhance APD on financial system journey to £8 per passenger (up from £7) for home flights, £15 (up from £13) for short-haul worldwide flights, £102 (up from £90) for medium-haul flights and £106 (up from £94) for long-haul flights. The long-haul price for personal jets rises to £1,141 (up from £673).

“APD charges are set greater than a 12 months upfront utilizing forecast RPI inflation. Lately, precise inflation has turned out to be considerably increased than forecast, so APD has fallen in actual phrases.

“The April 2026 adjustments due to this fact uprate charges by forecast inflation and apply a further catch‑up enhance to mirror previous inflation, in addition to reflecting the federal government’s determination to tax customers of personal jets extra extremely.”

As of April 1, home flight expenses for financial system class now price £8 (up from £7), whereas travelling in enterprise class now prices £16 (up from £14).

Band A covers flights from zero to 2,000 miles, which would come with all of Europe and nearly all of North Africa, so journey to Spain, France, Greece and Portugal, amongst different in style European hotspots, fall into this class.

Following the April enhance, passengers flying financial system to Band A locations now face a £2 additional cost, with prices rising from £13 to £15, whereas these flying enterprise, first or premium financial system face a £4 enhance, with charges rising from £28 to £32.

Band B covers flights between 2,001 to five,500 miles which would come with locations such because the USA, Canada, United Arab Emirates and India.

Financial system passengers travelling to band B locations now face a £102 cost for financial system journey (up from £90), whereas a £244 cost applies to increased courses (up from £216).

Band C applies to locations over 5,500 miles from the UK, corresponding to Australia, New Zealand and Thailand, with financial system charges now set at £106 (up from £94), and premium charges rising from £244 to £253.

The Workplace for Funds Duty (OBR) predicts the most recent enhance will generate £5.2 billion for the exchequer by 2027, in comparison with £4.6 billion this 12 months.

Listed is a full breakdown of the brand new APD charges from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, for flights in every band:

Home band