A third of families believe flying is more affordable following APD cut

Ahead of October half term, new research* from ABTA reveals that a third of people with families believe that the abolition of child Air Passenger Duty (APD) has made flying more affordable; 34% of people with children under five and 31% of people with children over five stated that they felt this.

Following calls by ABTA, and the A Fair Tax on Flying campaign, APD was cut on economy flights for children under 12 on 1 May this year, offering savings of £26 on flights to Europe and £142 on flights to long haul destinations such as the USA, Thailand and Australia for a family of four (with two children under 12). These savings are set to benefit more families from March 2016 when children under 16 will be exempt from the duty.

This cut follows changes to APD earlier in the year with the abolition of the more expensive long haul APD Bands C and D on 1 April. These changes have simplified the APD system and made destinations such as the Caribbean, India and China more affordable for Britons.

Mark Tanzer, ABTA Chief Executive commented: “It is great news that people are feeling the value of this reduction to APD and this cut for children has undoubtedly benefited hard working British families. We welcome the Government recognising the damaging impact this tax is having and urge them to keep it under review, especially given the announcement by the Scottish Government that it will cut APD by 50% with a view to eventually abolishing it.”

22 October 2015

* Consumer research was conducted by Arkenford Ltd (www.arkenford.co.uk) who specialise in tourism and leisure market research. The ABTA Consumer Trends survey generated response from a nationally representative sample of 2003 consumers using an online research methodology and related to holiday booking habits in the 12 months to August 2015. Fieldwork was conducted in August 2015.