Guest fountainhall Posted March 24, 2012 Posted March 24, 2012 What was initially a nasty little spat between European airlines and the European Union shows signs of developing into a real trade war. On January 1st, the new EU Emissions Trading Scheme legislation took effect, one with the intention of protecting the environment and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The aim is to reduce levels to 20% below 1990 levels by the year 2020. The EU took action after it became frustrated with the continued lack of any action on cutting greenhouse emissions by the United Nations. Inevitably, airlines have ben drawn into the mix. The EU directive forces not only airlines operating within Europe to cough up, but also those flying into or out of it's airspace to pay the new tax. And if your plane is flying from Bangkok to London, for example, it still has to pay the full tax – not just an amount pro-rated to the length of the journey within the EU. Cleary that is unfair, The EU responds it has to tax the whole journey because it is impossible to determine exactly how to tax part of a flight. Whilst the tax commences this year, airlines will face no bills until 2013 after their carbon emissions for 2012 have been assessed. So it is applied retrospectively. Failure to pay could result in aircraft being impounded in Europe. This has really set the cat amongst the pigeons. Not surprisingly airlines are crying “Foul”! For it means that if other countries along your route from BKK to Europe also adopt similar measures, an airline could end up paying half a dozen or so similar taxes. It’s hard to find the exact amount of the tax, but two sources source claim it will add US$5.25 to $31.50 per passenger to the cost a round trip flight. China was one of the first countries to mandate its airlines not to pay the tax. India and the Gulf States have followed suit. The US, Canada and Russia have voiced strong objections, but have not yet formally declared they will not pay. The issue goes well beyond forcing passengers to pay yet more taxes on the already high tax content of tickets, however. China has taken retaliatory measures. China has now blocked the purchase of Airbus planes. Airbus estimates this will lose the company US$12 billion in existing orders and cost many thousands of jobs spread throughout Europe. Plane maker Airbus, British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Lufthansa, Air France, Air Berlin and Iberia have written to the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Spain to warn them about its economic consequences, , , French aerospace and defence group Safran and Germany's MTU also put their names to the letters, to British Prime Minister David Cameron, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. All four countries helped found Airbus. http://www.eubusines...-carbon-tax.fn2 If China stops its flights entering European airspace and purchasing Airbus planes, that economic damage on its own will be massive. The EU is unlikely to lose face with a complete climb down. So some experts are suggesting a means will be found whereby emissions for the part of a flight within the EU can be calculated to defuse the situation. I only hope that it will be a great deal fairer than the way the UK government presently assesses its air passenger taxes. These have four bands based on distance. Idiotically, though, the tax is assessed on the distance between capital cities. So if you fly from London to Perth, the tax is based on flying thousands of miles more to Sydney. Equally mad, fly from London to Honolulu and you only pay for London to Washington, four or more thousand miles less. That’s not all. If you are on a one-way economy flight from London to Singapore or Australia, you pay £92 in tax – up from £10 when introduced in 1994. But if you are in any other class, including Premium Economy, the rate is £184 – or US$580 per round trip! And that’s before fuel and other charges are added on to the basic fares. No wonder the UK is the most expensive arrival/departure country for flyers. It also helps explain why flying into and out of the UK can be considerably cheaper if you have an intermediate stop. More background http://radio86.com/f...-climate-change http://www.abta.com/..._passenger_duty Quote
