The German Finance Ministry has released a study into the effects of the German Government airline ticket tax introduced at the beginning 2011. The tax has had a slightly dampening effect on the number of passengers departing Germany but the Ministry insists other factors, notably the dramatic rise in the price of kerosene have had a greater impact on airline companies.
The airline ticket tax was introduced by the conservative government and was initially levied at a rate of EUR8, EUR25 of EUR45 per passenger depending on the destination. The tax has recently been reduced to compensate for additional costs arising from the extension of the European Union’s emissions trading scheme to flights over Europe.
The Finance Ministry maintains there is no evidence to suggest passengers have elected to fly from border airports to avoid the charge. In fact the actual number of air passengers in Germany rose 5% last year compared to 2010, to 198.2 million. The levy generated revenues of EUR 959million during 2011.
German airlines are continuing to fiercely oppose the airline tax which the German government plans to reduce annually going forward.
http://www.tax-news.com/news/German_FM_Stands_Firm_On_Plane_Ticket_Tax____55648.html for source of the article.
http://www.businessday.com.au/business/federal-budget/taxes-and-charges-flying-high-20120511-1yi9m.html for further informarion on the cost of various levies on airline tickets.