Directory / Chapter 88
Chapter 88: Aircraft, spacecraft
Aircraft, spacecraft and their parts, including balloons, gliders and unmanned aircraft.
The code this site holds in chapter 88
| Code | What it covers | Markets priced | Duty range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 880622 | Drones / unmanned aircraft, 250 g to 7 kg | 4 of 4 | 0% |
Where this chapter ends
Unmanned aircraft were given subheadings of their own in the 2022 nomenclature, so a drone is classified here as an aircraft rather than as a toy or a camera. Weight and intended use separate the subheadings, and a drone carrying a camera is still an aircraft rather than an instrument.
What the notes to section XVII say
Chapter 88 sits in section XVII, vehicles, aircraft, vessels and associated transport equipment, which runs from chapter 86 to chapter 89. A section note governs every chapter in its section, so it stands one layer above the note to chapter 88 below and applies before it.
The nomenclature publishes 5 notes to section XVII, and 5 of them reach chapter 88. They are quoted here in full, as published, in the order the nomenclature gives them.
Note 1 to section XVII
This section does not cover articles of heading 9503 or 9508, or bobsleighs, toboggans or the like of heading 9506.
Note 2 to section XVII
The expressions 'parts' and 'parts and accessories' do not apply to the following articles, whether or not they are identifiable as for the goods of this section:
a. joints, washers and the like of any material (classified according to their constituent material or in heading 8484) or other articles of vulcanised rubber other than hard rubber (heading 4016);
b. parts of general use, as defined in Note 2 to Section XV, of base metal (Section XV), or similar goods of plastics (Chapter 39);
c. articles of Chapter 82 (tools);
d. articles of heading 8306;
e. machines or apparatus of heading 8401 to 8479, or parts thereof, other than the radiators for the articles of this Section; articles of heading 8481 or 8482 or, provided they constitute integral parts of engines or motors, articles of heading 8483;
f. electrical machinery or equipment (Chapter 85);
g. articles of Chapter 90;
h. articles of Chapter 91;
ij. arms (Chapter 93);
k. luminaires or lighting fittings and parts thereof of heading 9405;
l. brushes of a kind used as parts of vehicles (heading 9603).
This note names chapter 85, chapter 90, chapter 91, which this site also covers.
Note 3 to section XVII
References in Chapters 86 to 88 to 'parts' or 'accessories' do not apply to parts or accessories which are not suitable for use solely or principally with the articles of those chapters. A part or accessory which answers to a description in two or more of the headings of those chapters is to be classified under that heading which corresponds to the principal use of that part or accessory.
Note 4 to section XVII
For the purposes of this Section:
a. vehicles specially constructed to travel on both road and rail are classified under the appropriate heading of Chapter 87;
b. amphibious motor vehicles are classified under the appropriate heading of Chapter 87;
c. aircraft specially constructed so that they can also be used as road vehicles are classified under the appropriate heading of Chapter 88.
This note names chapter 87, which this site also covers.
Note 5 to section XVII
Air-cushion vehicles are to be classified in this section with the vehicles to which they are most akin as follows:
a. in Chapter 86 if designed to travel on a guide-track (hovertrains);
b. in Chapter 87 if designed to travel over land or over both land and water;
c. in Chapter 89 if designed to travel over water, whether or not able to land on beaches or landing-stages or also able to travel over ice.
Parts and accessories of air-cushion vehicles are to be classified in the same way as those of vehicles of the heading in which the air-cushion vehicles are classified under the above provisions.
Hovertrain track fixtures and fittings are to be classified as railway track fixtures and fittings, and signalling, safety or traffic control equipment for hovertrain transport systems as signalling, safety or traffic control equipment for railways.
This note names chapter 87, which this site also covers.
The publisher carries 2 further notes to this section under the heading Additional section notes. Those are national notes rather than part of the international text, so they are not quoted here: everything above is the same rule whichever destination a shipment is going to, and an additional note is not.
Read from the section notes published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/sections/17, on 2026-09-08, and read a second time from the chapter endpoint quoted below, which carries the same section note and has to agree with it. Like the chapter and heading notes, a section note is part of the international text of the Harmonized System, so it decides classification and never a rate.
What the nomenclature excludes
The legal notes to chapter 88 carry no general list of exclusions. That is a fact about the notes rather than a gap on this page: the chapter is defined by what its headings say and by the note above, and there is no published list of goods sent elsewhere for this site to quote. The sentence under the previous heading is therefore this site's own summary and is not a citation.
Read from the chapter notes published in the UK Trade Tariff by HM Revenue and Customs, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/88, on 2026-09-07. The first six digits of that nomenclature are the Harmonized System itself and the notes to a chapter are part of its international text, so this is the same note whichever of this site's destinations a shipment is going to. It decides classification and never a rate.
What the notes say about each heading
The note above governs chapter 88 as a whole. Underneath it the same published notes speak about individual four digit headings, and that is the layer a classification usually turns on. This site holds codes under one heading in this chapter. None of them is the subject of a numbered note. The notes say nothing about the other one, which is the published position rather than a gap here.
| Heading | What the nomenclature calls it | Codes here | What the notes say about it |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8806 | Unmanned aircraft | 880622 | Not named in the chapter notes |
Read from the same chapter notes quoted above, at https://www.trade-tariff.service.gov.uk/api/v2/chapters/88, on 2026-09-07, with each heading title read from its own endpoint. The Harmonized System publishes no separate heading notes: its legal text is section notes, chapter notes and subheading notes, and what governs a heading is a chapter note whose subject clause names it. The section notes are quoted at the top of this page, which is the layer above.
What chapter 88 costs to import
Every one of the 4 rates held in this chapter is zero, so this site holds no duty on it in any market it prices.
A destination that prices part of a chapter answers for part of it, so this is how much of chapter 88 each one covers, out of 1 code.
| Destination | Codes priced | Duty range in this chapter |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1 of 1 | 0% |
| Canada | 1 of 1 | 0% |
| United Kingdom | 1 of 1 | 0% |
| United States | 1 of 1 | 0% |
Third country rates, which is what applies with no trade agreement claimed. Destination tax is charged on top. Each code page carries the reading behind its own figures and the day they were read.