Despite recent reports that suggest prohibitive administration costs are preventing customers reclaiming Air Passenger Duty (APD) tax on flights, initial results of a Skyscanner survey suggest that the majority of airline customers aren’t actually aware they can obtain refunds by applying to the airline.  The survey found that 60% of users had not claimed back tax because they didn’t know that they could, while only 5% of respondents couldn’t be bothered. Only 9% of all those surveyed had actually claimed back their tax.

Said Gareth Williams, CEO of leading flight comparison website Skyscanner:

“Air Passenger Duty (APD), a government tax levied on UK airlines, is only paid to the government after the flight has taken off and can therefore be claimed back if passengers fail to fly or have had their flights cancelled.  Our users tend to be fairly “savvy” when it comes to travel so I am surprised that so many are unaware of the fact they can claim this back.  With Air Passenger Duty tax in excess of £100 for a long haul premium cabin there’s a lot of money going unclaimed.”