For QF to Overcome UK UPD - Change the Flight Numbers in SIN?
QF and BA pax travelling on same flight number services from Europe to Australia will have to pay the highest air passenger duty, as the APD is calculated based on the final destination of the plane from the UK.
So while EK pax will pay it to DXB, SQ pax will pay it to SIN, and QF pax who change to another QF flight in SIN will also just pay it to SIN.
Why don't QF and BA just swap flight numbers in SIN, and indicate QF1/2 as flights that terminate in SIN. Then all their pax will only have to pay the duty to SIN and not beyond.
This is a highly unfair tax as we all know - EK pax flying LHR-DXB-SYD will pay the tax only on the LHR-DXB portion while QF pax on a QF2 service will pay the full tax to SYD.
Any regulatory problems with this solution for QF?