Holidaymakers across the UK could be owed refunds in air passenger duty (APD) as the little-known fee is often not reclaimed, a new study has found.

Brits who cancelled a booking, missed a flight or had their flight cancelled, may be entitled to an APD refund, yet in the chaos of switching to another flight or replanning a journey, people may miss that they can claim money back.

Research by financial comparison website Go.Compare found that while one in 10 Brits could be eligible for a refund, more than three-quarters of these flyers are unaware they can claim it.

APD is a tax on airlines and aircraft operators automatically charged for passengers flying from a United Kingdom or Isle of Man airport to both domestic and international destinations.

It is a tax on airlines, not on passengers, but most airlines pass this cost on through ticket prices, a decision that is up to the airline.

However, the tax is only payable once the traveller has flown, meaning that someone who bought a plane ticket, but did not end up travelling can potentially claim this tax, even if the ticket is non-refundable, Go.Compare says.

Those who can claim an APD refund are usually those who missed a flight and bought a new ticket for another one, cancelled a booking for a non-refundable plane ticket or if their flight was cancelled and were not given a new flight.

By assessing a YouGov survey of 2,000 UK residents and studying data from HMRC and the Civil Aviation Authority, they estimate that around 3.6 million UK adult flyers could be owed this refund without even realising it.

The researchers believe that UK holidaymakers could be owed an estimated £44.7m in total in air passenger duty refunds.

The comparison website says that some eligible travellers could be owed from £7 up to a staggering £244, depending on their destination and what class they were due to fly in.

However, airlines have their own policies and ways to go about claiming a refund that may differ from one another.

Ryanair says passengers are only entitled to a government tax refund if they have paid such taxes at the time of their booking, and have an online form to apply for a refund within one month of the date of departure if they did not travel.

EasyJet says that if customers don’t take their flight they can claim a full APD refund by contacting the airline’s customer services team, which is set out in their terms and conditions, and they do not charge for this.

Meanwhile, Jet2 states that passengers can apply in writing to them for an APD refund if a flight has been missed.

Wizz Air do not charge any APD to passengers, so there are no refunds available

“Wizz Air offers a single, simple, and transparent price to customers and no additional taxes are charged on top of any tickets, including any air passenger duty (APD) taxes” a Wizz Air spokesperson explains.

“Similarly to other operational costs, for example fuel costs, we pay all taxes when they are due and do not transfer these taxes to the passengers individually.

“In 2016, Wizz Air previously provided refunds for APD taxes after the UK regulation on APD changed the same year; however, because Wizz Air does not charge any APD tax from passengers, it has removed the refund policy”

Rhys Jones, travel insurance expert at Go.Compare, says: “Very few travellers know what Air Passenger Duty is and understand how it works. This means millions could be entitled to some money from their airline without even realising it.

“Your eligibility for the refund and how much you can claim depends on the circumstances of your trip, so you will need to check if you’re entitled to anything first. Keep in mind that you’ll likely only be refunded if you didn’t travel, so if you were placed on another flight as a result of a cancellation, for instance, you probably won’t be eligible, since you still flew.

“But, if for example you missed your flight and had to buy another ticket for a later departure, you could claim back the tax on the original ticket, as you paid the APD twice but only flew once. Some airlines do impose a deadline and an admin fee to claim, which can mean it isn’t worthwhile for some trips, but not all of them do this, so it’s worth looking into for your journey.

“You won’t be able to claim for any knock-on expenses as a result of an incomplete journey here either, that’s what your travel insurance is for. But, it’s a great way to take the sting out of a disappointing day at the airport.”

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