German government debates doubling air travel tax charges

The main conservative party in Germany is debating whether doubling air travel tax will improve the environmental impacts of aviation.

The party’s financial expert, Andreas Jung, said: “We want a doubling of the ticket tax for domestic flights which would build on the current regulation. In the current regulation, feeder flights are exempt. This exemption would be continued.”

Under the plans, the tax could reach €40 for longer distance flights.  

In July 2019, the French government released plans to increase ticket prices by €18 by 2020 – an eco-tax on all flights leaving the country and it seems this has promoted the rest of Europe to follow suit. 

Does this tax go far enough to protect the environment from the activities of the human race?

In a document which outlined the plans, the party suggested: “We will invest, together with the aviation industry, to make electric-powered flights standard for short-haul flights and to create synthetic fuel to achieve climate-neutrality on medium- and long-haul flights.” They also highlighted the need to not tax flights that are not powered by fossil fuels to encourage more environmentally-friendly travel.

The party believe that there are better ways to travel to reduce ones carbon footprint, including electric cars, a move onto rail and a plan to make flying more expensive to deter the public from using it as a regular mode of transport.

Jung continued: “We want to double the existing ticket tax of €7.40 for domestic flights. The previous plan for short domestic flights is no longer in the proposal, so that there will only be a doubling of ticket taxes.”

A spokesperson for the government said: “We doubt it will dent emissions at all, but we need an international approach that tackles CO₂ output directly.”

There is, however, still some confusion as to where the money will come from to finance this project.