A proposal to set a minimum price on airfares to reduce flying and carbon emissions has set off a sharp controversy, with critics saying it “is saying that poor people can’t travel.”
The proposal comes from France, whose transport minister, Clement Beaune, says it has support from Netherlands and Belgium in its request for an EU policy. Beaune says his aim is to “open the debate on the fair social and environmental price of a flight ticket,” but it’s drawing sharp pushback from airlines.
In particular, Europe’s largest low-cost carrier, Ryanair has spoken out, saying that it’s the wrong approach to cutting carbon emissions, which should be attacked by use of sustainable fuels and more efficient planes, and that it doesn’t believe the price rule would be unpopular. “All that is saying is that poor people can’t travel and that generally doesn’t fly in France,” according to Ryanair’s president.
Pushback on the idea is also likely to come from those EU countries where tourism, including many travelers coming on low-cost flights, might be disrupted by a price floor.
