Denmark to introduce green tax on plane tickets

Denmark's government said Friday it plans to phase in from 2025 a green tax on plane tickets, urging fellow EU states to follow its example.

"The transport sector is currently undertaking a rapid green transition, and with this agreement, this also concerns aviation," Transport Minister Thomas Danielsen said in a statement. "It will still be possible to fly, but it must be possible to do this in an environmentally friendly way."

The tax, which will apply to flights departing from Denmark but not to connecting passengers, will be set at 30 kroner (€4) for short-haul flights when it is introduced in 2025 rising to 50 kroner in 2030. Long- and short-haul flights will be taxed at as much as 410 kroner in 2030, by which time the average tax will be 100 kroner.

"I imagine that as the years go by we shall have common European regulation in this area. That would be the right way forward," Climate and Energy Minister Lars Aagaard said. The measure is expected to help finance investment in the transition of domestic air transport to wholesale use of sustainable fuels by 2030 and an increase in a pensioner bonus, received by those getting the smallest pensions, by around €2 billion per year.