Passengers in Germany we have to prepare for higher ticket prices starting in May. The reason is an increase in ticket tax that applies to all passengers departing from German airports. The increase is part of the package of measures with which the federal government wants to plug billions of holes in the budget, following a decision by the Federal Constitutional Court. The cabinet released it on Monday and the Bundestag is next in line.
Specifically, ticket tax is expected to increase by almost a fifth from May 1st. Depending on the flight distance, it varies between 15.53 and 70.83 euros per passenger. The ticket fee affects all passengers departing from German airports. Airlines have to pay the surcharges, but they can pass them on to passengers.
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The federal government expressly expects that flying will become more expensive. In the draft so-called budget financing law, she writes: “The expected transfer of tax to flight prices will have a direct impact on individual air travel prices. low-cost flights, the tax can represent a significant proportion of the total flight price.”
Inflation from May 1st
Travel departing from May 1st will likely be more expensive. Anyone who has already booked their ticket is probably safe, because demanding a tax increase later would probably be legally difficult. It is uncertain whether companies will pass on the higher taxes equally on all air connections. Competitive pressure is particularly high on intra-European flights – greater than on intercontinental connections.
This year, around 400 million euros more in taxes should flow into the State's coffers, as a result of the increase in the tax on tickets. The government expects additional revenues of 580 million euros in the coming years.
The Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry criticized the increase. President Jost Lammers said that the burden on air traffic in terms of state location costs in Germany is already by far the highest in Europe. “Among other things, the massive increase in air traffic tax in 2020 meant that Germany, as an aviation location, lagged significantly behind in the recovery after the corona pandemic – while the other European countries have already returned to pre-crisis levels” . The range of direct connections from Germany to other European countries is already significantly smaller than at airports in other European countries.
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The new planned increase in air traffic tax now threatens further cuts, which not only endanger connections to important commercial locations. Airlines would then have less energy to invest in decarbonizing air traffic, Lammers warned. “It is even more important that the federal government fulfills its commitment made in the coalition agreement to use aviation tax revenues to offset the high additional costs of sustainable aviation fuels, so that climate-neutral aviation can progress. .”
National tax on kerosene
The introduction of a national tax on kerosene was initially examined within the German federal government. Kerosene used in commercial aviation is exempt from energy tax. But because a tax on kerosene would have placed a unilateral burden on national airlines, the traffic light coalition backed away from this idea. The Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry criticized that a national tax on kerosene alone would have made feeder traffic to German hubs more expensive and thus diverted traffic abroad.
The federal government wants to generate an additional 45 million euros in revenue by reviewing the so-called ticket tax reduction mechanism. Previously, the tax rate was reduced if the federal government received a certain amount from the auction of aviation emission licenses. This amount is now set higher so that the tax rate does not have to be repeatedly reduced when certificate prices rise, but the federal government has more left over.