Germany planning to introduce new duty on aviation

On 7 June 2010 Bloomberg reported on the German Government announcement that it would be introducing a tax on air travel to raise one billion euros a year as part of its efforts to reduce its budget deficit. For those that speak German, some further information is available here about what is described as a national ecological air traffic charge on all passengers.

Reaction from the airline industry included:

• Association of European Airlines
• International Air Transport Association

On 17 June 2010 the Brussels-based NGO Transport & Environment posted a story that suggests that it is not yet clear what will happen to this tax when international air transport is covered by the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).