The Hong Kong SAR government announced on the 28th that it welcomes the passage of the "Air Passenger Departure Tax (Amendment) Bill 2025" by the SAR Legislative Council on the same day, implementing the proposal in the 2025/26 fiscal year budget to increase the air passenger departure tax from HKD 120 per passenger to HKD 200. It is expected that government revenue will increase by about HKD 1.6 billion annually. The new tax rate applies to air tickets purchased on or after October 1, 2025. A spokesperson for the SAR government stated that when considering increasing the air passenger departure tax, the government has struck a balance between increasing revenue and reducing the impact on passengers. The impact of the increase on the overall travel expenses of airplane passengers (including passengers) is very minor. The draft of the revised Air Passenger Departure Tax Regulations 2025, which has been passed, will be published in the constitution on June 6th. (New Society)