Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she plans to increase Air Passenger Duty on domestic or international flights; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of any such increase on (a) regional connectivity and (b) aviation sector competitiveness.

Air Passenger Duty (APD) applies to airlines and is the principal tax on the aviation sector. It is expected to raise £4.7 billion in 2025-26 and it aims to ensure that airlines make a fair contribution to the public finances, particularly given that tickets are VAT free and aviation fuel incurs no duty.

At Autumn Budget 2024, the Government announced increases to APD rates for 2026-27, which partially make up for a real-terms fall in rates following a period of high inflation. The increase equates to £1 per economy class passenger more for those taking domestic flights, and for those travelling short-haul in economy class, this will be an increase of £2 per passenger per flight.

A higher rate currently applies to larger private jets, and this will rise by an additional 50 per cent on top of the general increase made to all APD rates. The Government also published a consultation on the extension of the higher rate to cover all private jets already within scope of the APD regime. At present, the higher rate only applies to larger private jets, and so many private jet passengers pay the same rates as commercial airline passengers. The consultation closed on 22 January and the Government will respond in due course.

The Chancellor makes decisions on tax policy at fiscal events in the context of public finances. The Government publishes Tax Information and Impact Notices (TIINs) alongside tax policy changes.