An Introduction to APD and the Changes Introduced on 1st November 2010

LONDON, November 19, 2010 -

    -1. What is APD?



    -2. Brief History

    -3. How much is it?

    -4. Reduced Rate APD vs. Standard Rate APD

    -5. Child tickets

    -6. Tickets bought before 1st November

    -7. What we think

    -8. Useful Links

What is APD?

On 1st November 2010 a new increase in Air Passenger Duty (APD) came into
effect which brought new tax increases for flying to some of Britain's
favourite destinations.

APD is charged based on a series of tax bands determined by the distance
between London and the capital city of the destination country. So this means
that if you're travelling to the capital city (like Canberra in Australia) or
to a city on the other side of the country to the capital (like Perth,
Australia for example) the band is the same.

This means it's not always a reflection of the distance actually
travelled and some of the UK's all time favourite holiday destinations
(www.expedia.ie/en-ie/hot-hotel-deals.aspx) - such as the Caribbean -
are predicted to be hit heavily.

There is a standard rate and reduced rate for each band which varies
according to seat class.

A brief history of APD

Until 31 October 2009 there were four rates of duty:

         Rate         For specified European     For all other destinations
                           destinations
    Standard rates             GBP20                       GBP80
    Reduced rates              GBP10                       GBP40

On 1st November 2009 the current four destination band structure (see
table below.), based on geographical distance from London was introduced,
with each band having two rates of duty depending upon the class of travel.
The rates were also increased with the lowest band now being GBP11 rather
than GBP10, but the highest increasing from GBP80 to GBP110.

The changes on 1st November 2010 retained the 4 band structure, but
brought further increases detailed below

How much is it?

        Rate         Tax Band     Old price (Up   New price     %
                                    to 1st Nov   (after 1st  increase
                                      2010)       Nov 2010)  vs. 2009

      Standard        Band A         GBP22.00     GBP24.00
                  0 - 2,000 miles                               9%
    Reduced rate                     GBP11.00     GBP12.00

      Standard        Band B         GBP90.00    GBP120.00
                2,001 - 4,000 miles                            33%
    Reduced rate                     GBP45.00     GBP60.00

      Standard        Band C        GBP100.00    GBP150.00
                4,001 - 6,000 miles                            50%
    Reduced rate                     GBP50.00     GBP75.00

      Standard        Band D        GBP110.00    GBP170.00
                  over 6,000 miles                             55%
    Reduced rate                     GBP55.00     GBP85.00

Reduced Rate APD vs. Standard Rate APD - when does each rate apply?

    - Reduced rate of APDusually applies to passengers travelling
      in the lowest class of travel on a plane (usually this is economy
      class)

    - Standard rate applies to any other classes. Or, if there is only
      one class of travel on the flight and the seat spacing (seat 'pitch')
      is 40 inches or more, then the standard rate would also apply.

Child Tickets

APD is based on seats sold so it still applies to child tickets unless
the child is under two and has not been allocated a separate seat before
boarding.

Tickets bought before 1st November 2010

The November 1st 2010 increase will affect any passenger whose flight
(www.expedia.ie/Flights) begins on or after this date so unfortunately
booking or buying your ticket before 1st November does not mean you have
missed the increase. The tax will already have been included in the price of
tickets sold before 1st November 2010.

What do we think?

Expedia.co.uk (www.expedia.co.uk/Hotels) is supporting The
Telegraph's opposition to APD and seeking a review as we believe the that the
APD increase is bad for travellers, bad for tourism, bad for business and
unlikely to benefit the environment under current plans. If you agree with
this you can sign their petition online by emailing
apdcampaign@telegraph.co.uk with your full name and address or sign up via
The Telegraph's online form
(www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-competitions/8076110/Air-Passenger-Duty-campaign-The-Daily-Telegraph-petition-to-stop-the-tax-on-travel.html)
.

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For further press information, please contact the Expedia press office team:
Telephone: 0844-875-1457, Email: expediapressoffice at golinharris.com