Is Rishi Sunak increasing taxes on all flights?
- Published
The Labour Party has claimed on X, external that the prime minister is: "Increasing taxes on all flights. Except for private jets."
What Labour says is right about domestic flights. But the post - labelled "RishiAir" - is wrong to claim taxes are increasing on all flights.
The tax on flights is called Air Passenger Duty, external (APD), which is calculated based on how far you are travelling and what class you are in.
The bands for distance are:
up to 2,000 miles
2,000 to 5,500 miles
over 5,500 miles
And there is a special band for domestic flights.
There are also three rates for the level of luxury:
reduced rate is for those in the lowest class of travel available
standard rate is for other classes of travel
the higher rate is for private jets - defined as planes equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers.
From April 2024, taxes are going up for domestic flights - for the reduced and standard rates but not for the higher rate for private jet use.
But taxes are not increasing for international flights up to 2,000 miles. They will remain unchanged in all classes of travel.
We pointed this out to Labour and asked them for the evidence for their claim.
Labour referred us to a press release, external which says "the Tories are putting forward plans to hike taxes on domestic flights for normal commercial passengers, while those in private jets won't see any tax rise at all".
But that's not what their post on X said.
Labour have been highlighting the prime minister's use of private jets and helicopters. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves brought it up, external in her conference speech.
The Conservatives have been bringing up Labour leader Keir Starmer's flight in a private jet paid for by Qatar to visit the country's leader.
We asked the Treasury why taxes were going up for all domestic passengers except private jet users and they said it was because last year the APD for domestic passengers had been halved, except for private jet users.
