In the Canary Islands, a union of mayors has begun to mobilize its legal services to impose an ecotax on tourists; But in Germany, where a good part of the tourists who come to the island come from, since this May they have already had to endure an: aerial one. Tenerife's problems with its trolling about the sustainability of the destination have generated citizen unrest and generated mobilizations that have ended up contaminating Gran Canaria, an excellent destination in services and sustainability. In the economic capital of the Canary Islands, the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, where Maspalomas is located, they have applied common sense and there will be no fines for tourists for visiting the destination, according to Espiral21.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has sharply criticized the increase in taxes on German aviation, which will weaken the German economy and damage aviation's ability to decarbonize. Since May 1, German taxes on flights have increased by 19% to between €15,53 and €70,83 per passenger, depending on the route. The Canary Islands authorities say that this rate does not affect flights with the islands but the reality is that the rule says that they are for flights between the Canary Islands and the Peninsula excluding Portugal and Gibraltar.
IATA charges that the tax will make Germany less competitive in key economic areas such as exports, tourism and employment. It will further impact Germany's air transport recovery from the pandemic, which is one of the slowest in the EU. Germany's international passenger numbers, for example, are still 20% below pre-pandemic levels.
“When Germany's economic performance is anemic at best, denting its competitiveness with more taxes on aviation is political folly. The government should prioritize measures to improve Germany's competitive position and encourage trade and travel. Instead, they have opted for a short-term cash grab that can only harm the long-term growth of the economy," said IATA Director General Willie Walsh.
IATA also warns that the tax increase will hamper the industry's efforts to decarbonize. Aviation has the goal of achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 and sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) are vital to this effort in spaces like Gran Canaria, although Tenerife wants to be a kind of regional distribution center for that aviation fuel.
The German government's coalition agreement originally stated that revenue from aviation taxes would directly fund SAF production, but this commitment has been broken. Furthermore, weakening the German air transport industry with this tax makes it harder for airlines to invest in SAF, a more fuel-efficient fleet, and other decarbonization efforts. Furthermore, the German government appears to be sympathetic to the European tax directive that would add a tax to jet fuel.
"The German government appears to have an unhealthy obsession with aviation taxes. In addition to increasing the passenger tax, it is also in favor of a European tax on jet fuel, which will make it even more expensive to do business in Germany or travel with families on holiday Our survey of air travelers in Germany shows deep skepticism about government 'green tax' claims.
75% agreed with the statement “Taxes are not the way to make aviation sustainable” and 72% agreed that “green taxes are just governments.” "Greenwash." "Time and time again, we see that taxes that were supposed to help the industry decarbonize are stolen and then lost to the general budget, and the money taken away from the industry means it has less money to invest in other decarbonization measures," Walsh said .
