Private Jet Taxes in Europe: What France, the UK, Italy and Germany Add to a Charter

Why passenger taxes now matter in a charter quote

A charter is priced for the whole aircraft, so the instinct is to think of taxes as a small fixed add-on. They are not. Every tax in this article is levied per passenger, and most per departure, which means they scale with the size of the group and the number of legs rather than with flight time. Six people on a two-leg trip can trigger a tax twelve times.

Formally, these taxes fall on the operator. HMRC notes that operators ordinarily pass the cost of Air Passenger Duty through to the consumer, although that is a commercial decision for the airline or operator, and the French, Italian and German systems work in the same way: the operator collects and pays, and the passenger ultimately bears it. The practical consequence is that you need to know whether a quote includes them. Jet Supply defines the from-prices in its European Private Jet Charter Price Index, Q3 2026 as covering aircraft, crew, fuel, standard handling and standard catering. Passenger taxes are not on that list, which is why I always ask for them as separate lines. For how the rest of a quote is built, see all-in versus hourly charter pricing.

France: the solidarity tax that changed the arithmetic

France made the largest change. Under the 2025 Finance Law, from 1 March 2025 the French solidarity tax on air tickets (TSBA) has a separate tariff for business aircraft. Service-Public, the French government’s information service, lists €420 per passenger on a business jet to a destination in France or Europe, €1,015 to an intermediate destination and €2,100 beyond 5,500 km; turboprops pay €210, €675 and €1,025. The statutory text defines the business categories as non-scheduled services on aircraft with a maximum operational configuration of 19 passenger seats or fewer.

For comparison, the same table charges an economy passenger €7.40 and a passenger with additional services, in effect business class, €30 on a European departure. By my arithmetic, a business-jet passenger leaving Paris for London therefore pays fourteen times the airline business-class rate. The solidarity tariff is also only one of four components: the statute adds a civil-aviation tariff (€5.05 per passenger on a European departure from March 2025, indexed to inflation), a security tariff that varies by airport and an airport-equalisation tariff.

Three details matter in practice. According to 4AIR’s guide for operators, the tax applies to commercial air transport departing France; non-commercial own-account flights, crew-only flights and children under two are exempt. The distance band is measured from Paris-CDG to the main airport of the capital of the destination country, not along the actual route. And because the business tier stops at 19 seats, a larger VIP airliner falls back into the airline categories. 4AIR cites a projection that the revised tax will raise around €1 billion in revenue.

The United Kingdom: APD today, and the business-jet rate from April 2027

Air Passenger Duty applies to departures from UK airports on aircraft of 5.7 tonnes and above. Until now, the expensive higher rate has applied only to aircraft of 20 tonnes or more equipped to carry fewer than 19 passengers, essentially large-cabin jets. From 1 April 2026 that higher rate is £142 for domestic and Band A destinations, £1,097 for Band B and £1,141 for Band C, after an additional 50% increase on top of inflation. A year earlier the Band A higher rate was £84; by my arithmetic, that is a 69% rise in twelve months.

Most aircraft flown on European charter are far below 20 tonnes. Pilatus lists the PC-24’s maximum take-off weight at 8,500 kg, so today its passengers pay APD at the ordinary rates. HMRC’s guidance adds that where seat pitch exceeds 40 inches the standard rate is the minimum; for Band A, which covers all of the EU, Switzerland and much of the Mediterranean, that is £32 per passenger.

That changes on 1 April 2027. HMRC’s policy paper of 13 July 2026 extends the higher rate to all aircraft of 5.7 tonnes or more that are used as a private or business jet, and clarifies that the child exemption will not apply to business jets. HMRC has already published the rates from that date: £146.63 for domestic and Band A, £1,132.76 for Band B and £1,178.20 for Band C. For six passengers from London to Geneva on a PC-24, that takes the APD line from £192 to £879.78 (my arithmetic, assuming the standard rate applies today). HMRC expects the measure to raise £10 million a year from 2027–28, and puts the administrative impact on roughly 600 airlines and operators. The operative date is the date of travel, not of booking, so a trip booked now for next May pays the 2027 rate. For the airports themselves, see London’s private jet airports.

Italy: the aerotaxi tax, charged at both ends

Italy has taxed charter passengers since 2011. The Revenue Agency sets the aerotaxi tax at €10 per passenger for a leg of up to 100 km, €100 up to 1,500 km and €200 beyond, with the distance taken as the great-circle distance plus 95 km. Crucially, it is due for each leg with a departure and/or an arrival in Italy, so a round trip to Sardinia pays it twice. A 2023 ruling confirms the scope: passenger flights under a charter of the whole aircraft, on aircraft with no more than 19 seats.

The 1,500 km threshold deserves attention on London–Sardinia. By my own great-circle arithmetic, Farnborough to Olbia is roughly 1,400 km and Luton to Olbia roughly 1,435 km; with the 95 km added, the first sits just under the line and the second just over it. The departure airport can therefore decide between €100 and €200 per passenger. The operator does the official calculation, and I ask how it has applied it.

Germany: lower than its neighbours, and falling

Germany’s aviation tax runs the other way. On 1 July 2026 the rates fell back to their pre-May 2024 level: the Finance Ministry lists €13.03 per passenger for destinations up to 2,500 km (down from €15.53), €33.01 up to 6,000 km (from €39.34) and €59.43 beyond (from €70.83). The first class covers the countries listed in Annex 1 of the law, which include every EU state as well as the UK, Switzerland, Turkey and Morocco.

There is no separate business-jet tariff. The tax is owed by the licensed air carrier performing the departure, and a business-jet passenger on a commercial charter pays the same rate as an airline passenger. The exemptions cover crew, medical and state flights and, for round flights only, aircraft of up to 2,000 kg. For six passengers from Munich to Nice, that is €78.18 by my arithmetic. The return leg from Nice, under the French tariff, is €2,520. For the wider German picture, see the German private jet market.

The Netherlands: a French-style rate from 2030

The Netherlands charges a flat €30.25 per departing passenger in 2026, moving to distance bands in 2027: €31.04 for short flights and €49.87 for medium-haul, with the long-haul rate proposed at €59.43 in the 2027 tax plan, which parliament has yet to approve. From 1 January 2030, the government adds a separate rate for aircraft with 19 seats or fewer weighing 4,000 kg or more: €420, €1,015 or €2,100 per passenger, to be corrected for inflation. Those are the same figures France uses. I would not be surprised to see other governments follow, and I would plan any multi-year arrangement on that assumption.

What it means on a real itinerary

To make this concrete, here is an illustrative four-leg trip for six passengers on a jet such as the PC-24, at 2026 rates, counting passenger taxes only. It is not a client itinerary, and the arithmetic is mine:

• London Farnborough to Nice: UK APD at the Band A standard rate, 6 × £32 = £192. The same leg after 1 April 2027: 6 × £146.63 = £879.78.
• Nice to Olbia: French solidarity tariff, 6 × €420 = €2,520, plus the Italian aerotaxi tax on arrival (about 360 km + 95 km), 6 × €100 = €600. Total €3,120, before the smaller French components. Jet Supply’s Q3 2026 index lists Nice to Olbia on a light jet from €8,300, so the passenger taxes on that one leg come to about 38% of the from-price.
• Olbia to Munich: Italian aerotaxi tax on departure (about 850 km + 95 km), 6 × €100 = €600. Germany charges nothing on arrival.
• Munich to London: German aviation tax, 6 × €13.03 = €78.18.
• Total passenger taxes: £192 plus €3,798.18. The French departure alone accounts for two-thirds of the euro total, and it is 32 times the German departure.

How I read the tax lines in a quote

Charter enquiries I take are fulfilled through Limitless Sky. Whoever arranges your flight, these are the questions I would ask:

• Are passenger taxes included, and are they shown per passenger and per leg? A single “taxes and fees” figure tells you nothing.
• Where does each leg start? In France, Germany, the UK and the Netherlands the tax follows the departure; Italy also charges on arrival. The same aircraft and the same people can carry very different tax bills depending on the order of the legs.
• How many people are actually flying? Every passenger counts, and HMRC has confirmed that the child exemption will not apply on business jets from April 2027.
• What does the aircraft weigh? In the UK, aircraft below 5.7 tonnes are outside APD; between 5.7 and 20 tonnes they pay the ordinary rates until 31 March 2027.
• When does the trip take place? The UK change applies to travel from 1 April 2027 regardless of booking date, and the Dutch private-jet rate begins in 2030.
• Positioning and empty legs: a sector flown with only crew on board carries no passengers, and France and Germany exempt crew. An empty leg sold to you, by contrast, carries passengers, and the tax applies as normal. See the economics of empty legs.

My view, briefly

Passenger taxes have become a routing variable. With six passengers on a jet, the gap between a German and a French departure to a European destination is now about €2,440 per leg; by my arithmetic, that is roughly 40% of an hour at Jet Supply’s light-jet mid-band of €6,100. I would never choose an airport for its tax alone; access, slots, the drive to the villa and the aircraft available matter more. But I want the client to see the number before the trip is fixed, not afterwards. With France in place, the UK arriving in April 2027 and the Netherlands in 2030, the direction of travel is clear, and Germany’s cut is the exception. These rates change with each budget, so I check them at the time of booking, not from memory.

Frequently asked questions

How much is the private jet tax in France? — Since 1 March 2025, a passenger departing France on a commercial business jet with 19 seats or fewer pays a solidarity tariff of €420 to a European destination, €1,015 to an intermediate destination and €2,100 beyond 5,500 km (€210, €675 and €1,025 on a turboprop), plus smaller civil-aviation, security and airport components.

Do private jet passengers pay Air Passenger Duty in the UK? — Yes, on aircraft of 5.7 tonnes and above departing UK airports. Until 31 March 2027 the higher rate (£142 Band A from April 2026) applies only to aircraft of 20 tonnes or more; lighter jets pay the ordinary rates, with a £32 Band A minimum where seat pitch exceeds 40 inches. From 1 April 2027 all business jets of 5.7 tonnes or more pay the higher rate: £146.63 for domestic and Band A, £1,132.76 for Band B and £1,178.20 for Band C.

Is there a private jet tax in Italy? — Yes. The aerotaxi tax is €10, €100 or €200 per passenger per leg, depending on distance (great-circle plus 95 km), on charters of the whole aircraft with up to 19 seats, and it applies to both departures from and arrivals in Italy.

Does Germany tax private jet passengers? — Commercial charter passengers pay the standard German aviation tax on departures from Germany: €13.03, €33.01 or €59.43 per passenger since 1 July 2026, with no separate business-jet rate.

Are passenger taxes included in a charter quote? — Not necessarily. Index from-prices typically cover aircraft, crew, fuel, handling and catering. Ask for every tax line, per passenger and per leg, before you sign.

Do empty legs pay passenger tax? — An empty leg sold to passengers carries passengers, so the usual per-passenger taxes apply. A positioning flight with only crew on board does not trigger the French or German passenger tax.