(1)A duty to be known as air passenger duty shall be charged in accordance with this Chapter on the carriage on a chargeable aircraft of any chargeable passenger.
(2)Subject to the provisions of this Chapter about accounting and payment, the duty in respect of any carriage on an aircraft of a chargeable passenger—
(a)becomes due when the aircraft first takes off on the passenger’s flight, and
(b)shall be paid by the operator of the aircraft.
(3)Subject to section 29 below, every aircraft designed or adapted to carry persons in addition to the flight crew is a chargeable aircraft for the purposes of this Chapter.
(4)Subject to sections 31 and 32 below, every passenger on an aircraft is a chargeable passenger for the purposes of this Chapter if his flight begins at an airport in the United Kingdom.
(5)In this Chapter, “flight”, in relation to any person, means his carriage on an aircraft; and for the purposes of this Chapter, a person’s flight is to be treated as beginning when he first boards the aircraft and ending when he finally disembarks from the aircraft.