Was it cheap already? The minister announces a proposal regarding airline ticket prices

French Transport Minister Clement Beaune said in an interview for the weekly “L’Obs” that a “minimum air ticket price” should be introduced in the European Union. The politician announced that he would present a proposal on this matter to his counterparts “in the coming days.”

“Plane tickets for 10 euros are no longer possible”

– Airline tickets of 10 euros are no longer possible during the ecological transition. This does not reflect the cost to the planet. Moreover, cheap tickets do not cover the real environmental costs of air travel, which emits much more greenhouse gases than train travel – said the head of the Ministry of Transport.

Beaune declared that he fully supports taxing polluting activities to invest in the ecological transition. He recalled that the French government plans to raise the so-called solidarity tax, levied on every passenger on international flights departing from France. The profits from it are used to invest in the railway.

The French Minister of Transport announced earlier this month that he would like to increase taxes on flights and crude oil throughout the European Union.

Three months ago, a ban on short-haul flights came into force in France where rail travel is possible. Beaune described the move as “a necessary step and a strong symbol in the policy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

Greenpeace estimates that flights in Europe are twice as cheap as rail travel, which is due to the fact that airlines do not pay taxes on oil in the EU and airline tickets are not subject to VAT.

WWF describes the environmental footprint of airplanes as “one of the fastest-growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions driving global climate change,” and air travel is currently “the most carbon-intensive activity an individual can undertake.”