As Zeit reports, the Bundesrat decided on Friday to lower the ticket tax for flights departing from Germany. The levy will decrease by 2.50 to 11.40 euros per flight depending on the route. Bundestag had already approved the measure earlier. The move implements an agreement from the coalition contract between the Union and SPD, which aims to reverse a tax increase introduced by the previous government.
The exact amount of the tax cut depends on the destination: for short-haul flights, the tax drops from 15.53 to 13.03 euros; for medium-haul flights, from 39.34 to 33.01 euros; and for long-haul flights, from 70.83 to 59.43 euros. Whether flight tickets will actually become cheaper remains unclear. Given sharply rising kerosene prices, it is doubtful that airlines will pass the savings on to customers, according to Zeit.
The state will lose a mid-three-digit million euro amount annually due to the reduction. For the current year, the draft law calculates a revenue shortfall of 185 million euros, which is expected to rise to 355 million euros by 2030.
Source: www.zeit.de
