MSE News: Air passenger duty to be scrapped for children under 12: Autumn Statement 2

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Former_MSE_Helen
Former_MSE_Helen Posts: 2,382 Forumite
in Flights, currency & car hire
Air Passenger Duty (APD) is to be scrapped from May 2015 for children under 12 years old, the Government has revealed...
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Air passenger duty to be scrapped for children under 12: Autumn Statement 2014

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  • skylight
    skylight Posts: 10,716 Forumite
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    I'm so pleased with this one - I've five kids and four will be under 12 in May next year. It will make a difference to affordability for a holiday for us. Even better when they change it to under 16 as that will include the elder one for a few years too.
  • classy69
    classy69 Posts: 75 Forumite
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    Will it apply to flights already booked now, but don't depart until after May?
  • Pincher
    Pincher Posts: 6,552 Forumite
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    Like cinemas, which have special screenings for adults, disabled, etc., can we have children free flights? At least keep a section of the cabin designated as Hell Zone, so I can avoid it like the plague.
  • Cisco001
    Cisco001 Posts: 4,019 Forumite
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    I can't get it. Children still occupy a seat on the plane...
  • Heliflyguy
    Heliflyguy Posts: 932 Forumite
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    So flights booked for travel post March 2016 will now need the <16 year olds DOB in the booking so the system can calculate the APD correctly.
  • M0ney
    M0ney Posts: 494 Forumite
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    classy69 wrote: »
    Will it apply to flights already booked now, but don't depart until after May?


    In the article...

    "The Treasury has told MoneySavingExpert.com that this applies BOTH to tickets already purchased and future bookings on economy class tickets. "
  • M0ney
    M0ney Posts: 494 Forumite
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    Cisco001 wrote: »
    I can't get it. Children still occupy a seat on the plane...

    That isn't really relevant, students use the local infrastructure but are not subject to council tax, I'm sure many other analogies could be used but this is the one which came to my mind.
  • Alan_Bowen
    Alan_Bowen Posts: 4,850 Forumite
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    This hasn't been thought out, the cost of refunds, especially if bookings were made through travel agents is going to be more than the £13 charged in the first place, and when the age limit goes up to 16 it gets even worse. At 16 all scheduled airlines require the full adult fare to be paid, the age limit is usually 12, but there will have to be two classes of adult fare, one for 12-16 year olds and one for over 16.

    Airlines will also hate the sting in the tale that they must from now on show a breakdown of the exact taxes, fees and charges, including a fuel surcharge which are added to the 'real' fare. At present there is a 'fare' for under £60 to New York on a well known UK based airline but they add almost £300 as taxes fees fuel surcharges, despite oil having fallen from £147 a barrel in 2008 to around $70 now.
  • SW17
    SW17 Posts: 858 Forumite
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    Cisco001 wrote: »
    I can't get it. Children still occupy a seat on the plane...

    Not much to get. There is an election in May 2015 and people will be booking summer family holidays in the months leading up to it. Gideon is doing what all Chancellors do just before an election...

    There are also many examples of where children pay a lower price compared to adults for the same service (theatres, attraction entrances etc).
  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 20,323 Forumite
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    SW17 wrote: »
    Not much to get. There is an election in May 2015 and people will be booking summer family holidays in the months leading up to it. Gideon is doing what all Chancellors do just before an election...

    There are also many examples of where children pay a lower price compared to adults for the same service (theatres, attraction entrances etc).
    Exactly, and on planes children do actually cost less since the cost of the fuel depends on the total weight. A typical 3 year old weighs maybe 50-60kg less than an adult. Try seeing what the airline charges if your baggage is 50kg overweight!
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