United Kingdom Starts Implementing Air Passenger Duty

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013

At the beginning of March, the United Kingdom HM Revenue & Customs confirmed that Air Passenger Duty (APD) would be implemented on business aircraft passengers departing from United Kingdom Airports, where the Maximum Take Off Weight of the Aircraft is greater than 5.7 tons which applies to most business jets.  It increases further when the Aircraft’s Maximum Take Off Weight is greater than 20 tons.  Until this point, business jet aircraft passengers have been exempt from the Duty.

With effect from the 1st April, 2013 the following rates, per passenger, will be levied by the United Kingdom Government on all departing flights; for simplicity, the Government has introduced a banding system, based on the distance from London, regardless of departing Airport in the UK, to the capital city of the final destination country, again regardless of the destination itself.  Following are the Bands for reference:

Destination   Bands and Distance from London to Capital City of Country of Final   Destination (miles)

Reduced Rate

(Up To 20 Tons)

Higher Rate

(Over 20 Tons)

Band A (0-2000)

£13

$20USD

£52

$79USD

Band B (2001 – 4000)

£67

$102USD

£268

$405USD

Band C (4001 – 6000)

£83

$126USD

£332

$503USD

Band D (over 6001)

£94

$143USD

£376

$569USD

Examples of Aircraft Types

Learjet 45

Learjet 60XR

Hawker 800

Hawker 1000

Falcon 2000

Boeing BBJ

Bombardier Challenger 604

Bombardier Challenger 605

Bombardier Global   Express XRS

Embraer Legacy 650

Falcon 900

Gulfstream V

Examples:

1)      For a Learjet 45, carrying 6 passengers, from Farnborough to Paris (Band A) the Air Passenger Duty would be £13 x 6 = £78 (118 USD)

2)      For a Hawker 1000, carrying 4 passengers, from Farnborough to Sharm el Sheikh (Band B) the Air Passenger Duty would be £67 x 4 = £268 (406 USD)

3)      For a Challenger 604, carrying five passengers, from Farnborough to Sharjah (Band B) the Air Passenger Duty would be £268 x 5 = £1,340 (2,027 USD)

4)      For a Global XRS, carrying 2 passengers, from Farnborough to Bridgetown (Band C) the Air Passenger Duty would be £332 x 2 = £664 (1,005 USD)

The APD is applicable to all flights qualifying under the weight rule, regardless of whether they are private or commercial and is a Duty which cannot be reclaimed or exempted, regardless of the Nationality or State of Registry of the Aircraft.

Regrettably therefore, JetOptions started implementing this change from 1st April 2013 and any Duties levied will be recharged at cost through the normal accounting process.

United Kingdom HM Revenue & Customs confirmed that Air Passenger Duty (APD) would be implemented on business aircraft passengers

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Business Aviation Flight Activity Slips Again

Thursday, November 17th, 2011

For the second consecutive month, business aircraft flight activity in the U.S. fell slightly from a year ago, decreasing 1.5 percent last month, according to TraqPak data released this week by aviation services company Argus. (It declined 1.3 percent in September.) Continuing a trend seen this year, Part 91 operations remained in positive territory, posting a year-over-year increase of 2.6 percent in October. Fractional flying, meanwhile, slipped by 3.1 percent from a year ago. And for the ninth consecutive month, Part 135 charter activity fell–this time by 7.9 percent from October 2010. Aircraft category results were down almost across the board, with the exception of light jet flying, which increased by a mere 0.4 percent from last year. Large-cabin jets led the decline at -2.6 percent, followed by turboprops (-2.3 percent) and midsize jets (-1.5 percent). Looking at individual market segments, Part 91 light-jet activity saw the largest year-over-year gain, rising 8.7 percent, while the fractional light-jet segment reported the biggest decline in flying at -14.5 percent (this on top of a decline of 14 percent in September). Argus’s TraqPak data “is serial-number-specific aircraft arrival and departure information on all IFR flights in the U.S.”
“We have continued to beat this trend by having a 23% increase in flight activity over the same period last year” says Gus Lira, Vice President of JetOptions.

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Types of business aircraft available for charter

Tuesday, September 21st, 2010

The types of business aircraft vary widely, ranging from propeller-driven aircraft to jets to helicopters. They include everything from piston aircraft not much bigger than a car and capable of flying just a few hundred miles before re-fueling, to jets that seat more than a dozen people and are capable of making non-stop international flights. However, the vast majority of business aircraft seat six passengers in a cabin roughly the size of a large SUV and fly an average stage length of less than 1,000 miles. Depending on their capability, these aircraft may fly at altitudes below the airlines (below 20,000 feet) or above the airlines (above 40,000 feet). Regardless of the size or type you can charter any of these aircraft from JetOptions. 4 more parts to this story to come.

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