Tax on tickets.
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: England
Posts: 28
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Tax on tickets.
This is not a complaint about Ryanair, just a query on ticket prices; I was looking at a flight from Stansted to Spain tonight and the quoted price was 1p each way per person. However the total price for the tickets was £49.06 for two. Still a bargain, but I would like to know how the £49.02 of taxes is broken down - does it all go to the governments of the UK/Spain? Thanks.
The precise values will vary according to airports, airlines, date and time but to give you a flavour a service from Heathrow to a Spanish airport carries the following "taxes":
UK:
GB- Air Passenger Duty - 5.00
UB - Passenger Service Charge 11.90
Spanish:
QV - Security Tax 1.00
RS - Airport Service Charge 2.80
Airline:
YQ - Fuel/Insurance - 21.00
Actually, on some of the Highlands and Islands routes (not relevant here) the weight of the aircraft was also a factor!
UK:
GB- Air Passenger Duty - 5.00
UB - Passenger Service Charge 11.90
Spanish:
QV - Security Tax 1.00
RS - Airport Service Charge 2.80
Airline:
YQ - Fuel/Insurance - 21.00
Actually, on some of the Highlands and Islands routes (not relevant here) the weight of the aircraft was also a factor!
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: Ireland
Posts: 1,621
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Taking your useful example, Hartington, that means:
Taxes (i.e. to governments, i.e. "taxes" as in the normal sense of the word):
GB APD - 5.00
Spanish Security tax (I'm assuming, as AENA is State-controlled) - 1.00
Not sure about Spanish airport service charge - I would see this as a normal landing fee.
So GBP6.00 out of GBP41.70 is real "tax", the rest are just normal elements of airline operating costs which the airlines misleadingly group with "tax" to make the headline fare look lower.
C.
Taxes (i.e. to governments, i.e. "taxes" as in the normal sense of the word):
GB APD - 5.00
Spanish Security tax (I'm assuming, as AENA is State-controlled) - 1.00
Not sure about Spanish airport service charge - I would see this as a normal landing fee.
So GBP6.00 out of GBP41.70 is real "tax", the rest are just normal elements of airline operating costs which the airlines misleadingly group with "tax" to make the headline fare look lower.
C.
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: UK
Posts: 551
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
That's interesting. I've just priced a return ticket to Spain with Easyjet and they're quoting the tax as 9.50 GBP
Airfare per adult: 60.48 GBP
Taxes and charges: 9.50 GBP
Total amount due: 69.98 GBP
Taxes and charges: 9.50 GBP
Total amount due: 69.98 GBP
For many years taxes meant just that, charges imposed by governments. It's easy to point fingers but I think the rot started when the US Government permitted the introduction of PFCs. These are fees charged by airports to fund the development of new facilities. They showed up in the tax box.
Then the EU decided to scrap duty free. The way I heard it, the airlines were worried that airport profitability would slip and that the airport charges would then rise. That, in turn, would force the airlines to increase their fares. Their argument was therefore to be open about who was charging what and split out anything that wasn't directly under the control of the airline and show it on the ticket separately.
At about the same time IATA, recognising the way things were going decided that the box in which these things were shown on the ticket could not longer be called just taxes and renamed it taxes/fees/charges. They also issued an edict that staff should refer to it in those terms but I'm not convinced that has been wholly successful.
All of the above refers to the traditional carriers. The low cost carriers seem to have 2 differentiators. Firstly they negotiate the lowest fees they can at airports and if the airport will offer a discount for not using the airbridge or some other facility they take it. But, more importantly, some of them don't seem to adopt the same attitude to splitting out all those taxes/fees/charges (although I have nothing to back that assertion up).
Things have now reached the point where (out of interest) I priced a midweek London/New York return and got a price of GBP126 plus GBP126.10 tax/fee/charge.
The low costs seems to have 2 differentiators. First they negotiate the cheapest airport fees they can, foregoing certain amenities that the traditional carriers take for granted, such as airbridges. Secondly, some of them have a different attitude to what they include in the fare and what they show as taxes. Mind you, that last paragraph is total speculation on my part.
Then the EU decided to scrap duty free. The way I heard it, the airlines were worried that airport profitability would slip and that the airport charges would then rise. That, in turn, would force the airlines to increase their fares. Their argument was therefore to be open about who was charging what and split out anything that wasn't directly under the control of the airline and show it on the ticket separately.
At about the same time IATA, recognising the way things were going decided that the box in which these things were shown on the ticket could not longer be called just taxes and renamed it taxes/fees/charges. They also issued an edict that staff should refer to it in those terms but I'm not convinced that has been wholly successful.
All of the above refers to the traditional carriers. The low cost carriers seem to have 2 differentiators. Firstly they negotiate the lowest fees they can at airports and if the airport will offer a discount for not using the airbridge or some other facility they take it. But, more importantly, some of them don't seem to adopt the same attitude to splitting out all those taxes/fees/charges (although I have nothing to back that assertion up).
Things have now reached the point where (out of interest) I priced a midweek London/New York return and got a price of GBP126 plus GBP126.10 tax/fee/charge.
The low costs seems to have 2 differentiators. First they negotiate the cheapest airport fees they can, foregoing certain amenities that the traditional carriers take for granted, such as airbridges. Secondly, some of them have a different attitude to what they include in the fare and what they show as taxes. Mind you, that last paragraph is total speculation on my part.
Mmmmm PPruuune!
Join Date: Jul 1998
Location: UK
Posts: 596
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just priced a NCL - Oslo
as follows:
Flights
0.02p
Tax out (Total 12.48)
5.00 Gov Tax
4.00 Passenger Service Charge (Non-Refundable)
3.48 Ins + Wheelchair Levy
Tax Back (Total 14.79)
1.77Gov Tax
9.54 Passenger Service Charge (Non-Refundable)
3.48 Ins + Wheelchair Levy
Credit Card Charge
1.75 per sector (3.50)
Total
30.79
Interesting that the credit card charge is 11.36% and although its one transaction you are charged 1.75 per passenger per flight
The PSC will depend on the airport
as follows:
Flights
0.02p
Tax out (Total 12.48)
5.00 Gov Tax
4.00 Passenger Service Charge (Non-Refundable)
3.48 Ins + Wheelchair Levy
Tax Back (Total 14.79)
1.77Gov Tax
9.54 Passenger Service Charge (Non-Refundable)
3.48 Ins + Wheelchair Levy
Credit Card Charge
1.75 per sector (3.50)
Total
30.79
Interesting that the credit card charge is 11.36% and although its one transaction you are charged 1.75 per passenger per flight
The PSC will depend on the airport
