The International Air Transport Association Attacks German Departure Tax

The International Air Transport Association has just recently added its own voice to the many people that disapprove of the new departure tax being charged by the German government. It would appear that environmental concerns are being loosely cited by German officials as the reason behind the new tax. Either way, many other companies are not buying it, saying that it is just yet another way to tax people.

The International Air Transport Association, much like the chief executive of Lufthansa, has called the new tax irresponsible and short sighted. The director general of the International Air Transport Association, Giovanni Bisignani, said that there are three major concerns with the new German government proposal. These three things are that it’s the wrong measure, at the wrong time, and it ignores the lessons learned from the failure of a similar tax in the Netherlands.

Few details are currently known about this new tax. However, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has confirmed that the new departure tax would contribute €1 billion this year to the proposed budget. This would save about €80 billion in the period to 2014.

The tax is expected to be put into place in 2012. At that point airlines will be forced to buy permits to offset their carbon emissions. The European GDP growth is expected to be 0.9 percent this year. This is the lowest among the world’s major regions.

The overall impact of the similar scheme in the Netherlands previously cost the Dutch economy €1.2 billion in lost business, according to the International Air Transport Association. They went on to say that it this new proposal will fail as an environmental measure. It will simply send travelers across the border to other areas where there are no departure taxes.