also called airport fees · passenger service charge
Government and airport charges bundled into a plane ticket, such as departure taxes, security fees and passenger service charges, collected by the airline on the airport's or state's behalf.
Airport taxes are the government and airport charges baked into your ticket price, things like departure taxes and security fees, which the airline just collects on the state's behalf. The honest difference from a fuel surcharge is who keeps the money: these are real taxes you always owe, while a fuel surcharge is money the airline pockets. Even on a free flight paid with miles, these taxes still come out of your pocket at checkout.
You book a reward flight thinking your miles cover everything, then reach the payment screen. The fare shows as nothing, but a line of airport taxes still has to be paid in cash, so your free ticket quietly costs you real money before it is issued.
These are real taxes you always pay and cannot avoid, unlike a fuel surcharge, which is money the airline keeps. On an award ticket you still owe the airport taxes even when the miles cover the fare, so a free flight can still cost real cash at checkout.
The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.
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