How to reclaim Air Passenger Duty airline-by-airline

Update 7 May 2015: For an updated table showing airline-by-airline refund processes, see the Reclaim Air Passenger Duty for under 12s MSE News story.

The price of flights departing from 1 May next year will fall for under 12s, as the Government is scrapping Air Passenger Duty (APD) for this group. So MoneySavingExpert.com explains airline-by-airline how those who've already paid can reclaim the tax.

The Government confirmed that next year's APD change would apply to both new and existing economy class bookings (see the APD to be scrapped for children under 12 MSE News story.) This means:

• If you've already booked a ticket, airlines are expected to refund the charge. However not all airlines have worked out how they'll do this. See below for an airline-by-airline guide.

• If you've yet to book a ticket, it depends on the airline's systems whether the ticket simply won't contain the tax or whether it will and you then need to apply for a refund. Again see the table below for an airline-by-airline guide.

However be aware that if you've booked a holiday via a travel agent, you should contact them to arrange a refund as airlines will generally process only direct bookings – both Virgin and Thomas Cook have said they cannot process refunds for third party book

U12s' tax scrapped from May – airline-by-airline (We'll update table as we get more answers)

ings.

 APD – what you need to know

Here are the key points you need to know about APD:

• APD is charged on all outbound flights from the UK and is based on the distance flown. It's not charged on incoming flights to the UK.

• The Government's APD cut only applies to economy class tickets.

• Age is counted on the date of travel, so someone 11 now, but 12 at point of travelling would NOT get the exemption next year.

• The APD cut will be extended to under-16s from 1 March 2016.

• The APD on economy flights currently costs between £13-£97 depending on the distance of the flight. This will change to between £13 and £71, depending on the distance of the flight, from April 2015.

• Children below the age of two who are not allocated a separate seat before boarding are not charged APD.

Additional reporting by Paloma Kubiak.