Taxes and fees

So-called "pricing", i.e. the financial valuation of greenhouse gas emissions, is seen by scientists as one of the most important measures for effective climate protection. There are a number of fiscal measures that can be taken to recoup the costs caused by air traffic emissions: Kerosene taxes, emissions tax, a ticket fee, CO2 emissions trading and CO2 offsetting mechanisms.

The Convention of Chicago was signed in 1944 in order to avoid complications in international air traffic due to differences in legislation between the various countries. The Chicago-Convention and various additional bilateral agreements are designed to secure the smooth development of air traffic and exempt it from fuel and value-added taxes. As opposed to road traffic, where the largest part of the infrastructure is financed by fuel taxes, air traffic pays for its infrastructure (airports, air traffic control, security) via passenger and landing fees. The systems cannot be compared with each other. The costs caused by the emission of greenhouse gases are, however, not covered by it.

These fiscal instruments would contribute to redressing the true costs involved. A financial guidance effect for reducing emissions can therefore be achieved via pricing. In addition, a win-win situation for the economy would result if the tax earnings were used to reduce indirect labour costs. This would stimulate the labour market, which could in turn benefit the flight industry.

International CO2 emissions trading represents a further market-based instrument for cost effectively reducing CO2 emissions. The ETS trading system (European Union Emissions Trading Scheme) introduced by the EU is to include air travel from 2012 onward. With the CO2 law, Switzerland has, among other things, introduced an emissions tax (the CO2 fee) in order to achieve the goals of the Kyoto Protocol.

However, because international air traffic (as well as international shipping) are exempt from the Kyoto obligations, the CO2 law cannot be applied to air traffic. The introduction of fees on emissions or kerosene usage is also not feasible within individual countries for reasons of competitiveness.

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