It’s time to tax frequent flyers more. Here’s how to do it.

A frequent flying tax across Europe would increase aviation tax revenues to €64bn, without any financial cost to the majority of people, according to a report from Stay Grounded, the New Economics Foundation (NEF), and others.

This represents a six-times increase in European aviation tax revenues – equivalent to around 30% of the entire EU annual budget. The extra revenue generated through the EU alone (€51bn) could fund 20% of the annual public investment needed for the EU to meet its climate crisis targets.

Frequent flyer tax: making a huge difference

Magdalena Heuwieser, aviation campaigner at the Stay Grounded network, said:

Right now, it doesn’t matter whether you’re flying to visit your family for the first time in years, or taking a tenth annual flight to your luxury house on the coast – you’ll be paying the same tax for that flight. A frequent flying levy would be a fair aviation measure, reducing excessive flights for wealthy passengers, while raising revenues – including to expand and provide affordable railways and public transport.

The report finds that a frequent flying tax would result in a 21% drop in aviation emissions, mainly as a result of just 5% of people – the most frequent flyers – taking less flights.

Sebastian Mang, senior researcher at the New Economics Foundation (NEF), said:

When it comes to stopping climate breakdown, Europe faces a huge gap in the finance available. A frequent flying levy could make a sizeable contribution to the EU’s funds and could be leveraged to generate hundreds of billions in capital for investment in public transport, wind and solar power, and nature restoration. At the same time, a portion of the funds should be ring fenced for the EU’s contribution to lower and middle-income countries dealing with the sharp end of the climate crisis.

The report is the first to analyse how a frequent flying tax could be implemented across Europe, using economic modelling by CE Delft and a legal assessment by Adastone Law.

90 organisations and 47 academics have signed a public statement also released today in support of a frequent flying tax for the EU, among them Jason Hickel, Greenpeace, Action Aid International, and taxmenow.

Aviation is highly subsidised

Stefan Grebe, author of the CE Delft economic modelling study, said:

Immediate reduction of carbon emissions is necessary to align the aviation sector with the goals of the Paris climate agreement. Otherwise aviation is likely to contribute to an overshoot of the remaining carbon budgets and in addition requires disproportionate amounts of clean energy and land or depends on uncertain technological breakthroughs.

The report proposes the introduction of a Europe-wide frequent flying tax which would apply increasing levels of tax to every return flight a person takes in a year.

The first return flight would not be charged a tax. In addition, the report proposes a surcharge for the most polluting journeys: medium- and long-haul flights, as well as business and first-class seats.

Unlike other modes of transport, aviation is currently highly subsidised. The report recommends that aviation’s current exemption from fuel tax and VAT be scrapped.

This, in combination with a frequent flyer tax, would create a socially fair way of targeting excessive pollution by mostly wealthy frequent flyers, while preserving access to affordable occasional flights for lower income groups.

On a dangerous flight path

Marlene Engelhorn, Austrian millionaire and founder of taxmenow.eu, said:

The mile high club of private planet combustion where wealthy people like me can ferment in our comfort zones needs to close its doors. Unfortunately, the climate crisis with its floods and droughts and wildfires and heat waves seems not to reach this crowd high as a kite on kerosine. But the law also applies when we have our bejewelled feet off the ground. It‘s high time democracy uses this last force of human nature to harness the unnecessary destruction that my class’s jet-setting causes and to effectively demand we contribute to the costs of saving this planet.

The report uses polling across Western Europe to find that frequent flying skews towards the wealthiest:

• Just over half of people (52%) don’t fly at all in any given year.
• On average, just 11% of people fly more than three times a year.
• 35% of the richest households (earning more than €100,000) take three or more return flights a year, compared to just 5% for the poorest (earning less than €20,000).
• 70% of the poorest households don’t fly in a given year, compared to just 20% for the richest.

Finlay Asher, aerospace engineer in the aviation industry, said:

It’s very clear to aviation workers that our industry is on a dangerous flight path of emissions growth. We love flying, and the planet, but our freedom to continue flying in the future is now under threat. It will be impossible to set ourselves on a new trajectory of rapid emissions cuts without focusing on frequent flyers who are responsible for the majority of our pollution. Only by targeting this tiny minority of air travellers can we reduce our climate impact while maintaining access to the most valued services that air travel provides to the rest of society.

Featured image via the Canary