Written question asked by Lord Monson (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Sassoon (Conservative) on Monday, 6 December 2010.

Aviation: Passenger Duty

Question: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion and other parts of La France d'Outre-Mer, whose taxes, state benefits and voting rights are identical to those in continental France, and which are legally an integral part of France, are deemed to be part of France for the purposes of United Kingdom air passenger duty.

Answer: The destination bands for Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion and other French overseas departments are determined by the distance of their capital cities from London. Hawaii is treated for air passenger duty (APD) purposes in the same way as the other 49 states of the United States of America. Seats with extra leg room situated in an economy-class cabin are not considered to constitute another class of travel, and therefore attract the same rate of APD as other seats in that cabin.

Secondary information