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How UK Budget 2024 will affect travel

How the UK Budget might affect your next holiday

Here's how the Autumn Budget 2024 could impact your holiday plans, plus three tips to make sure it doesn't

The new government elected in July just announced their first Budget. The main change announced for travellers is the expected increase in Air Passenger Duty (APD), the tax automatically collected from most flights out of the UK.

For most passengers, the tax paid per person per flight will increase by £2 – from £13 to £15 – from April 2026, the year after next. For a family of four going away twice a year, it puts their collective holiday tax up from £104 to £120 per year, an inflation-busting rise in the tax for their holiday. Even so, it seems unlikely to put people off their main summer holiday.

While APD per flight can currently be anything between £7 and an eye-watering £607, that range is based on two factors – how long the flight is, and what class of ticket you've bought. Currently, most UK holidaymakers pay £13 in APD for a budget-class short-haul ticket, such as flights to Europe and North Africa. From today's Budget statement, it appears they will now pay £15.

The headline £607 is paid by a handful of private and first-class passengers flying to East Asia or Australia. And for private jets the APD is going up by 50% in 2026, so tax alone on a private long-haul flight will rise to approximately £1000.


How to avoid Air Passenger Duty

1. Fly budget short-haul

The tax hikes are more significant for longer, luxury flights, with the new rate for a long-haul private jet coming in around £1000 per person. But most ordinary UK travellers are more likely fly budget to Europe, which will cost a comparatively affordable £15 in tax per flight.

2. Change planes in Dublin

Less environmentally friendly but potentially cheaper is to change planes in Dublin. Especially if you're flying to the USA, it's possible to travel to the Irish capital and from there check in, pass US security and save both time and APD for the more substantial American leg of your journey.

3. Change planes in Inverness

Finally, and usually worst in terms of climate impact, is to take the initial leg up to Inverness and then fly out from there. A historical peculiarity intended to create local growth exempts the Highlands airports from APD, and Inverness is an international airport benefiting from that exemption. From there you can fly to somewhere like Amsterdam Schiphol, and then catch a new flight to anywhere in the world having paid no UK duty at all – except, perhaps, to reach Inverness itself which is about six hours from London by train.

Rising destinations for a Good Trip

Our guide to travelling sustainably and well, the Good Trip Index 2024 helps holidaymakers pick destinations that meet their own ethical standards. Some of the rising stars of the index this year are keen to see more visitors.

Good Trip Risers

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