Higher UK air taxes will not deter private jet customers, industry bosses say

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Higher UK taxes on private jet flights will not deter wealthy passengers willing to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds for a ticket, industry bosses have said.

The UK Budget on Wednesday outlined plans to raise air passenger duty on all flights, with steeper increases for many private jets.

The duty is calculated on the length of the journey, whether a passenger is in an economy or premium seat and, for private flights, the size of the plane. It was already due to rise in April next year, but commercial flight passengers now face an additional 13 per cent increase from 2026-27.

For passengers in the largest private jets, the duty will increase an extra 50 per cent, to a maximum of £1,141 per person.

But private jet executives said that even at these higher levels, the duty would make up less than 2 per cent of the average cost of a flight, and was likely to be easily absorbed by wealthy customers.

“After analysing the Budget and understanding what this will mean for our ultra-high-net-worth individual clients, we believe that the APD increase will have very little impact,” said Toby Edwards, co-chief executive of Victor, a private jet charter company headquartered in Abu Dhabi.

A one-way Victor private jet flight from London to Kuala Lumpur cost about £190,000 for three passengers, Edwards said.

The tax rates from 2026 would add £3,423 to the price of this flight on an ultra-long range aircraft such as a Bombardier Global 7500, he added.

“These relatively small price increases won’t deter our clients.”

Eymeric Segard, CEO and founder of LunaJets, was confident the benefits of flying privately cancelled out the additional costs.

“If you’re 10 people . . . [the tax rises] are noticeable but hopefully the reason for the trip . . . will warrant the extra amount,” he said.

A LunaJets return trip to New York costs about £130,000, Segard said.

A private plane flight emits up to 20 times more carbon dioxide per passenger mile than commercial equivalents, according to Victor, and environmental groups have long called for much higher taxes.

In France, the government is considering taxes of up to €3,000 per passenger on private jet flights.

Still, the industry has boomed since the coronavirus pandemic as wealthy people turned to private flights to avoid busy airport terminals and commercial flights.

There were 5.1mn private flights in 2023, 15 per cent more than in 2019, according to data from WingX.

While the industry was confident that the changes in the UK Budget would be manageable, there was more concern about a separate government consultation — also announced on Wednesday — about changing the way air passenger duty is calculated for private jets.

Proposed changes would make passengers in lighter private aircraft eligible to pay APD at higher rates. The top rates are currently charged only on private planes that weigh more than 20 tonnes.

“This would make a material difference to private jet flyers in this band,” Victor said.