A movement is growing in Germany, and not only among Green Party activists, to sharply limit domestic flights in favor of making rail travel even more attractive.
Green Party environmental activists have long called for an eventual end to domestic passenger flights in Germany, arguing that rail contributes less to climate change and, with more fast trains to more places, is actually faster for many people flying within Germany.
Now the Christian Social Union, the conservative party that is Bavaria’s affiliate of Chancellor Merkel’s Christian Democrats, has called for a punitive tax on unrealistically low air fares, and a corresponding reduction in the Value Added Tax on train tickets.
Their proposal is aimed especially at flights costing under €50, which they believe don’t reflect the cost of flying as much as the cost of grabbing sales share. CSU chief Alexander Dobrindt told the newspaper BILD that “I want climate protection instead of competitive prices. €9 tickets for flights in Europe have nothing to do with a market economy or climate protection. We want real freedom of choice in mobility through sustainable pricing of offers.”
