France, Spain and Kenya are among eight countries that have launched a ‘solidarity’ coalition that aims to introduce a tax on ‘premium’ air travellers.
Barbados, Benin, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Antigua & Barbuda are also part of the ‘aviation solidarity coalition on premium flyers’, which launched at the UN International Conference on Financing for Development held in Seville, Spain this week.
Supported by the European Commission and the Global Solidarity Levies Tinquire Force (GSLTF), the coalition aims to raise funds for climate action and sustainable development by implementing a tax on ‘premium flyers’, which it defined as first- and business-class travellers, along with private jets.
Speaking at the coalition launch, French president Emmanuel Macron stated: “We necessary those that benefited from globalisation to contribute more to financing. I urge all possible countries to join this international framework becautilize it is absolutely key.”
The GSLTF – co-led by France, Kenya and Barbados – in a separate statement stated the new coalition will work to increase the number of countries that apply a premium flyer levy to “improve domestic revenue mobilisation of developing countries and support international solidarity”.
The GSLTF also cited research, conducted o tis behalf by environmental consultancy CE Delft, that estimates a global levy on premium flyers could raise €78 billion per year.
Environmental campaign group Greenpeace International welcomed the news, stating “flying is the most elite and polluting form of travel, so this is an important step towards ensuring that the binge utilizers of this undertaxed sector are built to pay their fair share”.
Airline association IATA, however, criticised the relocate, describing it as a “gut punch” in the face of the industest’s ongoing decarbonisation efforts.
In a statement, IATA also questioned the validity of GSLTF’s research, stating “a competitive airline industest does not generate excessive profits” and that the estimated value of a premium flyer levy was “approximately three times the airline industest’s global estimated profit of US$32.4 billion in 2024”.
“The airline industest is an economic catalyst, not a cash cow,” stated IATA director general Willie Walsh. “Yet governments casually suggest a tax on flyers that is three times the airline industest’s annual profit without considering the real-world side effects for an industest that is a lifeline for remote communities, invigorates tourism markets and links local products to global markets.”
Walsh continued: “The bottom line is that, if followed, the GSLTF’s recommconcludeations will increase the cost of air travel for all travellers and do more harm than good. Extracting tens of billions from aviation will cripple its ability to invest in achieving net zero by 2050, alter route dynamics to the extent that connectivity will suffer, and short-alter countries on the critical economic support that air transportation provides.”
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