That’s setting off alarm bells in airline lobby groups and in the tourism ministries of sunny European countries that rely on airborne tourist traffic.
“For a politician to say we’re doing this in the interest of the environment … that’s complete bullshit. That’s lying,” Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association airline lobby, told POLITICO.
Walsh, the former chief executive of Aer Lingus and British Airways, warned that “it is almost impossible for any of that money [from taxes] to flow back to the industry to improve environmental performance.” He added that the only effect of new levies will be to make it more difficult for people to fly, lowering aircraft load factors instead of emissions and leaving the habits of the biggest polluters unchanged.
According to Walsh, any new tax on flights “is just to generate revenue. Will it stop anybody flying in a private jet? It’s not going to stop it, you’re not going to see a change in behavior and that’s the issue.”
Angry sunny spots
Hoekstra’s pledges to tax aviation are particularly angering tourism-dependent Mediterranean countries.
On Dec. 10, during a Council meeting with economy ministers, the southern countries reiterated their rejection of the kerosene tax proposed by the European Commission as part of the reform of the Energy Taxation Directive.