Air-travel taxes to solve climate-change crisis? 

Inclusion of aviation in the ETS would be the preferred option of the airline industry but green groups and researchers say that it will take too long and will be insufficient to tackle the full impact of aviation, which is estimated to be up to five times that of CO2 alone. 

They say that it is time to put an end to privileges enjoyed by the sector such as fuel tax and VAT exemptions and call for an increase in passenger duties and the introduction of NOx charges, in order to counter the downward trend in air fares, responsible for the large increase in aviation growth. 

However, the airline industry retorts that such measures, especially if implemented unilaterally, would be detrimental to an industry that contributes “enormously” to the global economy and often has no viable alternative. They argue that improvements in aircraft technology and fuel efficiency are the best way to reduce pollution but, so far, incentives to carry out such measures are lacking. 

David Soskin CEO, Cheapflights.co.uk, the UK 's leading travel-price search and comparison website, in a debate with environmentalists at the Institute of Idea 's “Battle of Ideas” event on 29 October 2006, criticised green groups for proposing “shortsighted knee-jerk taxation solutions”. He said that increased taxation “would make flying an elitist or business-only preserve and would hit hardest those on low incomes”, adding: "Taxation simply won't solve the problem... It will inhibit the ability of airlines to buy more modern and efficient aircraft and the speed at which new technology can be developed and introduced. If they wish rapidly to reduce global carbon emissions, the environmentalists should target their considerable efforts on the creators of the 97% of global emissions which have nothing whatsoever to do with aviation, but which may be more politically difficult to confront." 

Air transport associations have said that they are prepared to consider an emissions trading scheme “providing such a scheme has been demonstrated beyond any reasonable doubt to be beneficial to the environment and without any severe detrimental consequences”, adding: “A well designed ETS would be far more cost-efficient and environmentally effective than taxes and charges.” 

The European Federation for Transport and Environment and the Climate Action Network Europe, in a report published on 24 October, said: “Just inclusion of aviation in the EU ETS will not be enough… Even if inclusion had the maximum ambition level – all flights from and to EU airports, non-CO2 emissions, a rigorous cap and auctioning of permits – additional instruments such as fuel taxation will remain necessary, from the perspective of both effectiveness and cost effectiveness.”