Airport Taxes - Family Gappers
"A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it." John Steinbeck
There is the belief that when you buy your flight ticket part of the total cost for the ticket is for airport taxes - or 'Air Passenger Duty' or APD as it's more commonly known. While this is partly true in my experience airport taxes are NOT always included.
Both New Zealand and the Cook Islands stung us rather badly with an unexpected airport departure tax as we left. I was unprepared for this and it would be advisable to check with your travel agent before you go to see if you might face extra charges.
Both New Zealand and the Cook islands charged us around $35 each. Not that bad when you are travelling on your own but when you have to pay it for a whole family it hurts!
Recently doubled passenger tax could be completely withdrawn, with government facing claims for the repayment of more than £2bn.
Airport tax is not the same as Passenger Service Charge
This is charged by the airport and paid by the carrier (for the use of the airport's facilities). It does not go to the UK Government. It is charged to the customer at the time of ticket purchase.
The Passenger Service Charge varies from airport to airport, country to country but typical charges are around:
Heathrow - £13.00 (for international flights)
Gatwick - £7.60 (for international flights)
Launched Feb 2010!!
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