Austria is introducing an environmental tax named the ‘ecological air travel levy’ which is similar to Air Passenger Duty in the UK.
Passengers boarding flights in Austria will be charged €8 for European flights and €40 for long haul flights. Airlines in Austria said they will pass it on to their passengers.
What do readers think of this tax? It certainly bulks up the price of flights but it is for environmental reasons after all.
Far better to have a Europe-wide tax on aviation fuel. That way, there’s a level playing field between countries and tax paid is directly related to environmental damage. Airlines would have an extra incentive to use less fuel and fly their planes as full as possible. It would be easier and cheaper to collect and involve far less admin and hassle for the airlines.
It would also be a lot fairer than UK APD where, for instance, someone flying 5000 miles to the Caribbean pays more tax than someone flying 12000 miles to Hawaii.
The duty on fuel is a good idea, but wouldn’t another option just be to increase the landing tax, which also gives an incentive for airlines to fly fuller planes?