Sections 11 to 14
31.Sections 11 to 14 define other concepts that are key to the operation of the tax: flight, carriage, agreement for carriage, maximum passenger capacity, maximum take-off weight and standard class travel. Key points to note include the following:
a person’s flight begins when the person first boards the aircraft and ends when the person finally disembarks from it: a flight does not end nor a new flight begin if, for example, a person disembarks from an aircraft temporarily while it refuels (see section 11);
an agreement for carriage need not be formal or commercial in nature (see section 12); accordingly, the operators of a private jet would be liable for ADT if the jet is a chargeable aircraft and carries passengers who are chargeable passengers, even if the passengers are carried on an informal basis and do not have tickets for their travel;
whether a passenger is carried on an aircraft in standard class travel (which is relevant to the structure of the tax in section 16 and the exemption for children under the age of 16 in section 4) depends on the seat pitch, the number of different classes of travel available on a flight, and any guidance issued by Revenue Scotland (see section 14).
