---
title: "What are Airport taxes and charges? | Benefit Systems"
description: "Airport taxes and charges are government and airport levies contained in the ticket price and passed on to third parties."
source: "aus dem gebauten HTML abgeleitet"
---
# What are Airport taxes and charges?

Airport taxes and charges are government and airport levies contained in the ticket price and passed on to third parties.

Also called: Departure tax, Passenger service charge.

## How it works #

They attach to processing a passenger and therefore only arise when the flight is actually taken. Hence the practically important point: a passenger who does not travel can generally reclaim these elements, even on non-refundable fares. Their size varies widely by airport and explains why the same route costs different amounts from different cities.

## Not to be confused with #

Airport charges are not the same as a carrier-imposed surcharge: the airline sets the surcharge itself and keeps it, while charges are passed to the state and the airport.

## In German #

The German term is Flughafengebühren und Steuern. [German version of this term](/de/glossar/flughafengebuehren-und-steuern)

## Related terms #

- [Base fare](/en/glossary/base-fare): The base fare is the pure transport price of a ticket, before taxes, airport charges and airline surcharges are added.
- [Carrier-imposed surcharge](/en/glossary/carrier-imposed-surcharge): A carrier-imposed surcharge is a fee set by the airline itself and added to a ticket, payable in cash on award bookings on top of the miles.
- [Refund](/en/glossary/refund): A refund is the repayment of the fare when a flight is cancelled or the passenger no longer wants to travel after a disruption.

## Articles that use this term #

- [When do you get money back for a flight you didn’t take?](/en/knowledge/refunds-for-unused-flights)
- [What’s in the fare rules, and why read them?](/en/knowledge/fare-rules)
- [What is a foreign transaction fee and when does it apply?](/en/knowledge/foreign-transaction-fee)
- [Why one-way awards cost half, when one-way cash fares often don’t](/en/knowledge/one-way-awards)