In October 2024, Stay Grounded published new research on the feasibility of a new progressive climate measure: A Frequent Flying Levy. A webinar on November 7th presented the most important findings, with inputs from Magdalena Heuwieser (Stay Grounded), Alex Chapman (New Economics Foundation), Xavier Labandeira Villot (Professor of Economy, Vigo University), and further attendants such as Clive Spash (Professor for Social Ecological Economics, Vienna University).
Currently, it does not matter whether you’re flying to visit your family for the first time in years, or taking your tenth annual flight to your third luxury house on the coast – you’ll pay the same tax for that flight. Many think that is as unfair and backwards as a flat tax on income would be. This is why Stay Grounded proposes a Frequent Flying Levy (FFL). It works with the polluter pays principle: The more you fly, the more you pay.
The FFL would achieve three things: 1) It could reduce excessive flights and their emissions 2) allow access to flights for low-income groups and 3) raise money for the necessary green transition.
A Frequent Flying Levy has been widely discussed and supported in the UK, with the idea to replace the existing Air Passenger Duty to specifically reduce flights from those who fly excessively. However, research was so far lacking on how such a levy could be shaped and implemented in Europe.
The research project led by Stay Grounded was initiated through long discussions inside the network and with partners globally on how a FFL should be shaped: It should be effective, feasible and fair, and its revenues should be used wisely.
A previous study by ICCT had proposed to use revenues for a so-called decarbonisation of aviation, that is, to give the money to the industry for technological developments. Stay Grounded was critical of that proposal: The industry has dragged such developments on for decades, and new technology and fuels are, if ever, a long-term plan for reducing emissions and will always need to go along with demand reduction to be truly sustainable. This is why Stay Grounded instead proposed using the revenues for a green and just transition, both in Europe’s and in Global South communities most affected from the climate crisis as well as for creating resilient economies which don’t overly rely on mass tourism.
Stay Grounded then commissioned both CE Delft for an economic feasibility study, and Adastone Law for a legal feasibility study. Led by the New Economics Foundation, the results were summarized in a Civil Society Report published in October 2024 (see also for other languages here). Part of the project were partners in several European countries, such as Possible (UK), Ecologistas en Acción (ES), Bond Beter Leefmilieu (BE), 2DegreeCelsius (RO), Rester sur Terre (FR), New Weather Institute (SW).
How the FFL would look like
This progressive policy raises the tax rate of the FFL incrementally after every two single flights taken. In other words, there is no levy on the first return flight each year, a 50€ levy on the second, 100 € on the third, and so on. The FFL would replace existing ticket taxes, in case there are any.
Currently, jet-fuel is untaxed in most countries. If this tax exemption is continued, the research proposes as a second component a distance-based surcharge. The reason for this is that longer flights burn much more jet fuel and are therefore more polluting. This second component of the FFL would cease to be necessary, as soon as a kerosene tax was implemented.
A third component is a surcharge on business/first class seats, as these take up much more space and are therefore more polluting.
What were the key results of the research?
The FFL will lead to substantial emission reductions. The majority (54%) of the reduction in flying will come from just 4.5% of the Western European population that fly the most. These are overwhelmingly the higher-income social groups (63% coming from households with income above €100,000).
CE Delft calculated that there will be a 21% reduction in aviation’s carbon emissions reduction by introducing the FFL in the example year 2028. This would be an essential part of the necessary reduction. The rest of emissions would need to be tackled by other measures such as reduction measures for non-CO2 impacts of aviation, a ban on private jets, etc.
The additional taxes paid through the FFL will deliver a six-fold increase in current revenue from aviation (in the example year 2028). It will generate €74bn for the 31 European countries, and €56bn for the EU27. Since the FFL would replace current ticket taxes, this leads to a €63.6bn increase in tax revenue for Europe31 and a €50.9bn increase for the EU27.
For context, the increase in EU aviation tax revenues would cover 24% of the EU’s annual green public investment needed to meet the EU’s climate targets. The FFL revenues would be similar to the EU’s spending on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) which cost €55.7bn in 2021.
Legal feasibility will be given if a few tweaks are made. For the FFL to be operationalised, the privacy of travellers must be ensured. The most efficient implementation approach would be through the creation of a unique passenger identifier number. This number would be the link to a centrally managed database tracking flight numbers which would be accessed by the ticket seller in a secure way during the final stages of the sales process.
Find out more in the webinar recording or here: https://stay-grounded.org/frequent-flying-levy/
