The government is to abolish Air Passenger Duty (APD) in economy class for children under 16 from 1 March 2016, joining kids under 12 who are already exempt from paying the tax
This change, announced in the Autumn Statement 2014, comes into effect from 1 March, effectively saves £142 for a family with two children under 16 travelling to long-haul destinations such as Florida, and £26 off a holiday in Europe.
Now that the exemption is in force children will receive a reduction in the duty of up to £71 per child.
The government claims that it is working to reduce the cost of flying by cutting ADP rates for children and also pegging ADP increases for other passengers to inflation since 2010.
Child exemption on economy flights - typical savings (£)
| Exemption savings | 1 child family | 2 child family | 3 child family |
| Short-haul flights (ie, Cyprus) | £13 | £26 | £39 |
| Long-haul flights (ie, Florida) | £71 | £142 | £213 |
The top five countries visited by UK residents is unchanged since 2010. Spain tops the list in 2014 at 12.2m visits, a 5.4% increase from 2013, followed by France, US, Ireland and Italy. The only long haul destination in the top ten is the US.