- European aviation groups have slammed a ‘misguided’ proposal to tax premium flyers after eight countries last week formed a ‘solidarity’ coalition aimed at raising funds for climate action through traveller levies.
The European arm of Airports Council International (ACI Europe) and Airlines for Europe (A4E) on Wednesday released a joint statement lambasting the move along with recommendations from the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force to target air transport.
Echoing previous comments from IATA director general Willie Walsh, the organisations warned that redirecting potential capital from the sector’s ‘green transformation’ to government tax coffers would undermine decarbonisation efforts.
“Rather than supporting aviation’s decarbonisation agenda, the levy penalises it – a contradiction that makes climate and development goals harder, not easier, to reach,” they said.
France and Spain are among the countries that launched the coalition at the UN International Conference on Financing for Development held in Seville, Spain, last week.
Supported by the European Commission, the coalition proposed a tax on ‘premium flyers’, which it defined as first- and business-class travellers, along with private jet users.
ACI Europe director general Olivier Jankovec said: “Taxing aviation equals socio-economic self-harm and is a counterproductive measure to both development and climate action – we cannot mince our words in decrying this new proposal.
“It ignores the fact that what precisely sets aviation apart from other sectors is its ability to support wider economic activity along with a wide range of positive societal outcomes.”
According to the associations, every 10 per cent increase in European air connectivity yields a 0.5 per cent gain in GDP per capita.
Ourania Georgoutsakou, managing director of A4E, added: “European airlines already collect multiple local, national and international taxes and levies and pay for the environmental impact of flying… An additional levy on premium passengers will only further unlevel the playing field, will divert much-needed funds for the sector’s transition to net zero and will ultimately increase the cost of flying for all.”
Artículo publicado originalmente por businesstravelnewseurope.com
