How much do we pay in hidden flight costs? Departure tax hike on the way

Australia’s tourism industry advocates have erupted with howls of protest at the decision to increase the Passenger Movement Charge (PMC), announced in the recent federal budget.

The charge, to be imposed on every passenger aboard a departing international flight from July 1, 2024, will add $10 to the current PMC of $60. Given the huge increase in airfares over the past two years, an extra $10 is unlikely to change anyone’s mind about an overseas trip. That will add about 1.43 per cent to a $700 trans-Tasman return economy airfare, and 0.32 per cent to a $3100 return flight from Melbourne to Dallas.

The taxes and charges on your airfare are not something that attracts much attention, and the cost depends on the route you’re flying.

On that $3100 return economy fare from Melbourne to Dallas, taxes and charges account for about 15 per cent of the ticket price. On a $600 return economy fare from Sydney to Perth, the figure is close to 20 per cent, but 45 per cent on a $700 return economy fare from Melbourne to Auckland.

Finding out what taxes and charges add to the cost of your air ticket is easy, finding out whose pocket they end up in and for what purpose is anything but.

On a flight to the USA the taxes are truly byzantine. Not only will your ticket price include a Passenger Civil Aviation Security Charge, formerly known as the September 11th Security Fee, but also a fee to fund the activities of the US Customs and Border Protection Service, an Immigration User Fee to cover the cost of inspection of passengers on commercial aircraft or vessels, an APHIS User Fee to pay for the inspection of incoming plant and animal products and a Passenger Facility Charge, which goes to the airports you’re using.

To those who object to the increased PMC, our government can point to other countries with far higher departure taxes. Leave the UK on a flight bound for Singapore or Hong Kong and the Air Passenger Duty, the UK’s equivalent of the PMC, is $172.