{"id":15686,"date":"2026-05-02T13:42:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T13:42:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/15686\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T13:42:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T13:42:14","slug":"flights-to-spain-france-greece-and-portugal-hit-with-15-charges-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/15686\/","title":{"rendered":"Flights to Spain, France, Greece and Portugal hit with \u00a315 charges | UK | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Plane<\/p>\n

Air Passenger Duty rates increased on April 1 which is likely to have a knock-on effect on air fares (Image: Getty)<\/p>\n

Flights to popular holiday destinations across Europe, including Spain, France, Greece and Portugal, now face new \u00a315 charges following an uplift last month.<\/p>\n

As of April 1, Air Passenger Duty (APD) rates<\/a> have increased and this is likely to have a knock-on effect on air fares<\/a>, resulting in more expensive air fares for holidaymakers. APD is a tax paid by airline operators to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC<\/a>) for passengers departing from UK airports<\/a>, with the rates becoming increasingly more expensive based on the length of the flight<\/a> and the class of travel. The tax was first introduced in 1994 to offset the environmental impact of air travel<\/a> and applies to passengers aged 16 or over travelling on both domestic and international flights.<\/p>\n

While APD is paid by airline operators, ticket prices<\/a> usually include a charge to cover this cost and airlines then pass the fee to HMRC, so any increase typically means more expensive air fares for UK passengers.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: UK holiday firm issues 24-hour rule as flights cancelled <\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: State pensioners can get 9 freebies and discounts worth \u00a314,289 in May <\/a><\/p>\n

The new APD rates are now in effect and apply until March 31, 2027, with costs ranging from \u00a38 to a whopping \u00a31,141 per person.<\/p>\n

The rates are divided across four different bands which vary based on where you\u2019re travelling to, with longer distance flights incurring higher charges, and the class of travel which are split across three categories:<\/p>\n

a reduced rate – this applies to the lowest class of travel on a plane, such as economya standard rate – this applies to any other class of travel, such as business or first class, where the seat pitch is more than 40 inchesa higher rate – this applies to travel in planes of 20 tonnes or more that carry no more than 19 passengers, such as private jets.<\/p>\n

Explaining the changes last month, the Chartered Institute of Taxation said: \u201cFrom 1 April, the government is raising Air Passenger Duty rates by 13-15% across all bands and cabin classes, with an additional 50% increase for private jets.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will, for example, increase APD on economy travel to \u00a38 per passenger (up from \u00a37) for domestic flights, \u00a315 (up from \u00a313) for short-haul international flights, \u00a3102 (up from \u00a390) for medium-haul flights and \u00a3106 (up from \u00a394) for long-haul flights. The long-haul rate for private jets rises to \u00a31,141 (up from \u00a3673).<\/p>\n

\u201cAPD rates are set more than a year in advance using forecast RPI inflation. In recent years, actual inflation has turned out to be significantly higher than forecast, so APD has fallen in real terms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe April 2026 changes therefore uprate rates by forecast inflation and apply an additional catch\u2011up increase to reflect past inflation, as well as reflecting the government\u2019s decision to tax users of private jets more highly.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of April 1, domestic flight charges for economy class now cost \u00a38 (up from \u00a37), while travelling in business class now costs \u00a316 (up from \u00a314).<\/p>\n

Band A covers flights from zero to 2,000 miles, which would include all of Europe and the majority of North Africa, so travel to Spain, France, Greece and Portugal, among other popular European hotspots, fall into this category.<\/p>\n

Following the April increase, passengers flying economy to Band A destinations now face a \u00a32 extra charge, with costs rising from \u00a313 to \u00a315, while those flying business, first or premium economy face a \u00a34 increase, with rates rising from \u00a328 to \u00a332.<\/p>\n

Band B covers flights between 2,001 to 5,500 miles which would include destinations such as the USA, Canada, United Arab Emirates and India.<\/p>\n

Economy passengers travelling to band B destinations now face a \u00a3102 charge for economy travel (up from \u00a390), while a \u00a3244 charge applies to higher classes (up from \u00a3216).<\/p>\n

Band C applies to destinations over 5,500 miles from the UK, such as Australia, New Zealand and Thailand, with economy rates now set at \u00a3106 (up from \u00a394), and premium rates rising from \u00a3244 to \u00a3253.<\/p>\n

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicts the latest increase will generate \u00a35.2 billion for the exchequer by 2027, compared to \u00a34.6 billion this year.<\/p>\n

Listed is a full breakdown of the new APD rates from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, for flights in each band:<\/p>\n

Reduced rate – \u00a38Standard rate – \u00a316Higher rate – \u00a3142<\/p>\n

Band A (flights from 0 to 2,000 miles)<\/p>\n

Reduced rate – \u00a315Standard rate – \u00a332Higher rate – \u00a3142<\/p>\n

Band B (flights from 2,001 to 5,500 miles)<\/p>\n

Reduced rate – \u00a3102Standard rate – \u00a3244Higher rate – \u00a31,097<\/p>\n

Band C (flights more than 5,500 miles)<\/p>\n

Reduced rate – \u00a3106Standard rate – \u00a3253Higher rate – \u00a31,141<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Air Passenger Duty rates increased on April 1 which is likely to have a knock-on effect on air…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15687,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1390,371,9080,66,950,556,797,1726,17,9082,3149,9081],"class_list":{"0":"post-15686","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-air-passenger-duty","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-economy-flights","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-flights","13":"tag-france","14":"tag-greece","15":"tag-portugal","16":"tag-spain","17":"tag-tax-increase","18":"tag-taxes","19":"tag-uk-holiday-destinations"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15686"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15686\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15687"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}