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

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% increase from 2026-27. For passengers in the largest private jets, the duty will increase an extra 50%, 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% 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.”<br/>