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Swiss parliament votes for CO2 tax on air tickets
By Cirium11 June 2020

Switzerland’s parliament has voted in favour of introducing an environmental levy on airline tickets.

The Swiss federal assembly says 135 of 195 members approved the proposal, which last year received support from a “large majority” in the nation’s lower chamber, the council of states, following “worldwide climate protests”.

A similar proposal had been rejected by the federal assembly in late 2018.

Under the new plan, passengers are to be charged between Swfr30 ($31) and Swfr120 per ticket “depending on distance and [travel] class”.

The federal assembly says “nearly half” of the proceeds will flow into a climate fund for emissions-reduction initiatives, but has yet to determine how this will be used as details of the plan are “controversial”.

Swiss regional carrier Helvetic Airways says it is “basically not opposed” to an environmental tax in principle, but argues that it should be applied at European or global level.

“This is a clear distortion of competition since the foreign airlines with only few departures from Switzerland will not pass on the tax,” argues the Zurich-based airline.

Citing the coronavirus crisis and airlines’ liquidity problems, it complains that the new tax comes “at the worst possible time”.

However, the airline doubts that the new tax will deter customers from booking tickets: “A tax on flight tickets between Swfr30 and Swfr120 is far too low to discourage the Swiss population from flying, even over short distances.”

Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss has not yet responded to a request for comment.

The parliamentary proposal also includes introduction of a CO2 tax on car fuel. Heating fuels could be included in the programme at a later point, notes the federal assembly.

It indicates that the new law will likely require approval via a referendum.

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AirlinesEuropeSwiss