Air Passenger Duty

What is Air Passenger Duty ?

APD is an excise duty which is due on chargeable passengers being carried from a UK airport on chargeable aircraft. From 1 April 2013 APD has been extended to apply to passengers carried on board aircraft of 5.7 tonnes or more, irrespective of whether they were carried for a fee.

The rate of APD depends on the passengers’ final destination. There are four destination bands based on the distance between London and the capital city of the destination country/territory. From 1 April 2013 each destination band has three rates of duty depending on the class of travel and the type of aircraft used, so there are 12 different rates of duty in total.

The rates of duty are shown in the HMRC (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) Notice 550 Air Passenger Duty. The Notice also explains what chargeable passengers and aircraft are and contains a list of countries/territories and the bands they fall into.

Do I need to register for APD?

If you operate chargeable aircraft which are used to carry chargeable passengers from UK airports you must register for APD. However if you make 12 flights or fewer in a year and your estimated APD liability for the year is £5,000 or less, you can use the Occasional Operator Scheme, which allows you to declare and account for APD on flight(s) over a 24 hour period.

How to register

Please contact ETS.aero for further information on how to register:

ETS.aero
APD Dept
A113 Enterprise House
Bassingbourne Road
London Stansted Airport
CM24 1QW.UK.
Tel: +44 1706 693 194
Fax: +44 7053 400 787

When to register

You should register before your chargeable flights begin, but the latest you can register is within seven days of a chargeable flight taking place, that is, when you carry a chargeable passenger on a chargeable aircraft. If you fail to do this you may have to pay a penalty.

Your registration will become effective from the first day of the month in which you make a chargeable flight.

How to account for the duty

Once ETS.aero has registered with HM Revenue & Customs on your behalf we will send you a return, usually every month, for you to complete and send back with payment for any duty due.

Further information on this scheme can be found in the HMRC Notice 552 Air Passenger Duty.

Records to keep

ETS.aero will retain all the flight records on your behalf for audit purposes. This will confirm that the amount declared on the APD return is a true and fair account of your APD liability. As well as your normal business records we will retain:

• An APD account
• Other specific records as detailed in Notice 550 Air Passenger Duty

Further help and information

There are notices that have been produced by HMRC that cover various aspects of the duty:

• Notice 550 Air Passenger Duty
• Notice 551 Special accounting schemes for Air Passenger Duty (APD)