Originally Posted by
jridge
Departures from Australia are subject to the Passenger Movement Charge,
https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav/...nt-charge-(PMC)
Exemptions are specified in the legislation and include "transit passengers", which are defined as:
In essence, this means if you are immigration cleared to enter Australia, you are not a transit passenger. Whether an airline permits an overnight or <24 hour connection is superseded by the legislation in terms of calculating payment.
Originally Posted by
docbert
The additional taxes are due once you are not a "transit" passenger, which is defined based on whether you pass through immigration or not.
Technically for an overnight stay you don't need to pass through immigration (unlike most Australian airport, MEL is open 24x7), however there is a legal requirement to have a visa or similar (eTA) if you are in transit for more than 8 hours, so I'm presuming AS is probably using either the "overnight" or "8 hours" as their criteria for whether these taxes are due or not.
If you are intending to pass through immigration then the story is clear - the higher taxes are correct. If you're planning to remain airside then you might have a claim regarding being overcharged, but I wouldn't necessarily like your chances...
Thanks for the clarification. Indeed, Australian government is grabbing the money that even LHR would give you a break.
LHR does not charge Air Passenger Duty even if you clear immigration as long as your departure is within 24 hours. This is true even you are on 2 separate tickets. I believe HKG is the same despite the tax is charged upfront as included in the ticket price, however if you provide BPs to show you did not stay longer than 24 hours in HKG you can mail in to get the refund. If you are back to the transit area within 24 hours you can go directly to the desk set up by immigration in the departure area upstairs, they give you cash refund right there when you provide your documents.