As Ryanair reduces services in and out of the country citing high fees, the German Aviation Association has joined calls for the federal government to scrap its air travel tax.

German Aviation Association criticises air travel tax

In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the president of the German Aviation Association, Jens Bischof, has called on the federal government to cut the air travel tax.

“Flying has to remain affordable,” Bischof, also the CEO of Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings, told the broadsheet. "The air transport tax must be abolished. Sweden has shown the way.”

Sweden’s flight tax was introduced in 2018 but will no longer apply from July 1, 2025, according to the governing, far-right Sweden Democrats’ budget for next year. As a result, plane ticket costs are expected to fall by around seven euros on European flights in and out of Sweden and 28,50 euros for international flights.

Germany followed Sweden's initial example in May 2024, when Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) pushed through the Luftverkehrsabgabe. This increased the government tax on flights within Germany and to or from another European country from 12,73 euros to 15,53 euros per passenger. For flights of more than 6.000 kilometres, tickets are now taxed at 70,83 per head, up from 58,06 euros.

Ryanair will cut 20 percent of flights out of Berlin Airport

Bischof’s call follows Ryanair’s announcement in July that it will scrap 20 percent of its flights running in and out of Berlin-Brandenburg BER Airport, citing the “out of control” aviation tax as a motivation. 

The Irish budget airline has called on the German government to abolish the tax. Economics Senator in Berlin Franziska Giffey (SPD) responded, “If it were up to Ryanair, all fees would have to be abolished and the night flight ban lifted. That won’t work. [...] I doubt that Ryanair’s threat to the federal government will be successful… You can’t fly to the German capital for free.”

A lack of choice means passengers still choose budget airlines despite rising costs. Germany and Europe’s rail infrastructure cannot compete with the affordability and practicality of budget flights in its current state. According to a 2024 Greenpeace study, which analysed 990 routes between 45 major European cities, direct trains run on only 12 percent of routes, compared to direct flights serving 69 percent of routes.

This means there are almost six times as many direct flights as direct train connections. On average, planes emit 4,84 times more greenhouse gas emissions than trains, according to the European Environment Agency. Figures may vary depending on country, route and train type, but this is considered by Greenpeace to be a conservative low estimate.

Another recent study by the environmental organisation would suggest price is also a factor, with German trains being 51 percent more expensive than flights, at least in 2023.

The coalition government’s 2025 budget doesn’t signal a diversion from the current scenario. According to the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, the 5,9 billion additional euros earmarked for Deutsche Bahn development is both “far behind what is required for a transition to environmentally friendly transit” and insufficient for addressing the investment backlog in Germany’s rail network.

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