4 ms·

Why are they taxing flights rather than fuel? There's nothing wrong with "flying"! What's wrong is how they get their airspeed, namely by burning fossil fuel.

Why are they taxing flights rather than fuel? There's nothing wrong with "flying"! What's wrong is how they get their airspeed, namely by burning fossil fuel. Also those prices are insulting. There is no jet fuel tax in the EU. This gimmick tax is less than what people driving cars pay in taxes on their fuel for a tank of gas. Governments want to increase tax on car fuels (hence the yellow jacket movement) but still give airlines a break!

wcoenen 7y ago
Airlines are already included in the EU cap and trade scheme. That's effectively a fuel surcharge for CO2. (When that happened, the US disliked it so much that they passed the "European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act" to prohibit US carriers from complying. And China threatened to cancel airbus orders. As a result, flights that go outside of the European Economic Area are not covered by the scheme.)
- Ericson2314 7y ago
  So sad...
tus88 7y ago
> There's nothing wrong with "flying"! What's wrong is how they get their airspeed, namely by burning fossil fuel. Sadly at the current time there is no distinction between the two.
- inflatableDodo 7y ago
  There's some, but not much. These look fun - http://lazairinfo.com/electric-lazair/ http://lazairinfo.com/electric-lazair/
ant6n 7y ago
> Why are they taxing flights rather than fuel? Cuz Chicago convention
- hguant 7y ago
  For those curious, the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation was a UN convention in 1944 that established the rules of international air travel. One of those rules deals with taxing fuel - see below. Article 24: Aircraft flying to, from or across, the territory of a state shall be admitted temporarily free of duty. Fuel, oil, spare parts, regular equipment and aircraft stores retained on board are also exempted from customs duty, inspection fees or similar charges. Wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Convention_on_International_Civil_Aviation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Convention_on_Internat...

wcoenen 7y ago

Airlines are already included in the EU cap and trade scheme. That's effectively a fuel surcharge for CO2. (When that happened, the US disliked it so much that they passed the "European Union Emissions Trading Scheme Prohibition Act" to prohibit US carriers from complying. And China threatened to cancel airbus orders. As a result, flights that go outside of the European Economic Area are not covered by the scheme.)

Ericson2314 7y ago
So sad...

tus88 7y ago

> There's nothing wrong with "flying"! What's wrong is how they get their airspeed, namely by burning fossil fuel. Sadly at the current time there is no distinction between the two.

inflatableDodo 7y ago
There's some, but not much. These look fun - http://lazairinfo.com/electric-lazair/ http://lazairinfo.com/electric-lazair/

ant6n 7y ago

> Why are they taxing flights rather than fuel? Cuz Chicago convention

hguant 7y ago
For those curious, the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation was a UN convention in 1944 that established the rules of international air travel. One of those rules deals with taxing fuel - see below. Article 24: Aircraft flying to, from or across, the territory of a state shall be admitted temporarily free of duty. Fuel, oil, spare parts, regular equipment and aircraft stores retained on board are also exempted from customs duty, inspection fees or similar charges. Wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Convention_on_International_Civil_Aviation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Convention_on_Internat...