All flights out of France will be charged an eco-tax of up to 18 euros, or around $30 Aussie dollars, per ticket according to the country’s Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne.
She said the tax would come into effect gradually and would include a €1.50 ($2.50) charge per ticket on domestic and intra-European flights in Economy class, and an €18 per ticket ($30) fee for Business class passengers travelling outside of the EU.
The transport minister told a news conference that the €180m ($2.9m) that the tax should raise each year from 2020 onwards would help fund investment into cleaner forms of public transport, including rail and on the roads.
“We want to enable everyone to travel with cleaner forms of transport.”
French Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne.
More light is being shed on the damage that flying does to the environment, including through KLM’s powerful new campaign that tells people not to fly.
In a short open-letter video, KLM’s Chief Executive Pieter Elbers invites travellers to make “responsible decisions about flying” by considering an alternative means of getting to their destination (such as a train), packing lightly and compensating their CO2 emissions.
Although, Air France-KLM has publically slammed the idea of the French eco-tax, saying it could cost it more than €60m a year.
“This new tax would significantly penalise Air France’s competitiveness,” the French arm of Air France-KLM said in a statement.
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- READ: KLM tells travellers not to fly in a new powerful campaign
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