Customs and Excise—Duties—Air passenger duty

Court of Appeal, Civil Division, Lord Dyson MR, Patten and Pitchford LJJ, 4 Apr 2014

The Court of Appeal has ruled on the applicability of air passenger duty on flights originating in the United Kingdom.

Lord Pannick QC and Eleanor Campbell (instructed by Enyo Law LLP) for the taxpayer. James Eadie QC and Simon Pritchard (instructed by HM Revenue and Customs) for the Revenue.

Air passenger duty (APD) was introduced by the Finance Act 1994 (FA 1994) and was payable by the airline as a charge on the carriage of each passenger on a flight that originated in the UK. The rate of duty prescribed by s 30 of the Act was by reference to the place where the passenger’s journey ended. Special provisions were made for passengers who took connected flights, including passengers who took a domestic flight from one UK airport to another where they changed