Germany is taking aim at carbon reduction, and ‘unnecessary’ flights are the first prime target, with raises of up to 75% on airline tickets, with the heaviest percent increase on short-haul domestic flights.
The tax on domestic and intra-European flights will jump next April from €7.50 to €13.03. For ‘mid-haul’ flights to non-European destinations under 6,000 km away it will go from €23.43 to €33.01, and on long-haul flights from €42.18 to €59.43. All U.S. destinations are long-haul, except Boston which is just under the wire from Frankfurt.
And that’s not the only threat to cheap flying: Bloomberg News reports that the government also plans to ban selling flights below cost, which could hit hard at airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet, which often sell tickets at very low prices, making their profit from extras and upsells. The proposal might be a carbon reduction strategy; equally it could be a way to help flag carrier Lufthansa.
For those willing to take the train instead of flying, there’s a lollipop on offer: the Value Added Tax on rail tickets will drop from 19% to 7% to encourage more rail journeys.
