The budget is not sufficient: the government is sticking to a high ticket tax for flights

Air travel should become cheaper, the German government has been repeatedly saying recently. This is also stated in the coalition agreement. But now it turns out that the resulting tax revenue is needed. A return to lower ticket taxes is therefore not a priority.

The federal government is not planning to reduce the air travel ticket tax for the time being. "Currently, no leeway is foreseeable in the federal budget," government sources said. According to the results of the coalition committee at the beginning of July, the reduction in the air travel tax is not among the prioritized tax measures for which agreement has been reached for short-term implementation.

The draft 2026 budget is expected to be approved by the Cabinet today. According to the Cabinet proposal, revenue from the air traffic tax is expected to reach €2.07 billion next year, and €2.05 billion is planned for 2025. Following the Cabinet's approval, it's the Bundestag's turn.

In May 2024, the air transport tax was significantly increased. This potentially increases the cost of passenger flights from German airports. Airlines like Ryanair had canceled flights from German airports, citing high location costs.

Government: Airports are cost drivers

Government sources said that, with regard to a reduction in the ticket tax, one conceivable financing option would be to save the necessary funds in the individual budgets for transport or the economy and energy. A reversal of the increase in the air transport tax during this legislative period would result in annual tax revenue shortfalls in the mid-three-digit million range. It was further stated that the main cost factor for airlines is airport charges, for which the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of the Interior are conceptually responsible.

In their coalition agreement, the CDU, CSU, and SPD state: "We want to reduce air transport-specific taxes, fees, and charges and reverse the increase in the air transport tax." However, all measures in the agreement are subject to funding.

Industry associations have long been calling for the air travel tax increase to be reversed and for further relief from location costs. According to a report commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Transport and presented in March, significantly higher location costs, such as the ticket tax, are slowing German air traffic compared to other European countries.

Between 2019 and 2024, location costs in Germany rose significantly more than the European average. Following the slumps during the coronavirus pandemic, passenger traffic in Germany recovered rather slowly.