Originally Posted by
xyzzy
The tax on premium passengers is twice the charge for economy passengers. A few months ago the tax was doubled to its absurdly high current level. The tax is now as follows:
* Economy class flights in Europe, internal UK flights - £10
* Business and first class flights in Europe - £20
* Economy class long-haul flights - £40
* Business and first class long-haul flights - £80
That isn't quite right. The lower rates (labelled economy above) apply to the main cabin, and the higher rates (labelled business and first class above) apply to all higher cabins. So premium economy gets charged the higher rate, whilst all-business flights get charged at the lower rate. There are also rules about transits (some, but not all, transits will not attract the charges) and treatment of trips UK-europe-intercontinental.
Any way, to answer the question - it is different because of UK tax regulations.